


Blood In, Blood Out.

by dreaming_wide_awake



Series: Blood In, Blood Out [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Gang Violence, will add more tags later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-30 08:38:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 108,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5157269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreaming_wide_awake/pseuds/dreaming_wide_awake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa is in a gang, Clarke works at her mom's clinic which is in the neutral ground in the middle of a turf war. I suck at summaries, but give it a read, you might like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this popped into my head a while ago, and I've only just got round to posting it. One chapter so far, but if people like it then I can continue it. Let me know what you think, reviews are going to help me decide whether to finish it.

Clarke Griffin was just finishing her third nightshift at the medical clinic, she had been back in the city for just over a week, after leaving the place soon after she had graduated High School. She had gone away to college with her two best friends, Octavia and Raven, before going on to medical school. While she had been away at med school her father had been killed in a freak accident at his work, leaving Clarke and her mother Abby a lot of money in a Will and in a pay-out from the company he had worked for. Abby bought the clinic, Clarke had remained at med school, deciding to stay away from the city because it brought back too many painful memories for her. A bad break-up is what it had taken for Clarke to return.

She had been with Finn since her first week at med school, they had moved in together off-campus part way through that first year. Everything was heading towards them getting married until Clarke returned earlier than expected one night from her shift at the hospital to find Finn in bed with someone else. Clarke had packed up her things the next day and returned home.

To keep herself busy, Clarke had taken up her mom’s offer of working at the clinic, while she figured out what she wanted to do next. She had moved in with Raven and Octavia while she looked for a place of her own. The clinic was more like a fully equipped small hospital, it was open to everyone who needed it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If people had medical insurance, the insurance paid, if they didn’t have insurance they would pay a small amount and the clinic itself covered the rest.

The company which Clarke’s father, Jake, had worked for were one of the clinics main backers, along with a few other big companies around the city. The clinic was mostly staffed by volunteers, doctors and nurses who worked at the hospitals around the city. One thing that Clarke wasn’t aware of was that the clinic was smack bang in the middle of two gang territories. Most of the cases that Clarke had seen in her first three shifts were violence related, people who didn’t want to go to hospital because hospitals ask too many questions.

At 4am Clarke was ready to leave the clinic, it had been a long shift. As she was heading back to the locker room Octavia handed her another chart.

“One more for you Princess.” Octavia said with a smile.

“Oh no,” Clarke replied, shaking her head, “it’s 4am, I’m done.”

“It’s a suspected dislocated shoulder,” Octavia said, a pleading look in her eyes as she looked at Clarke, “your mom isn’t in yet and there’s no one else to take it. I’ll get you a coffee on the way home, please.”

Clarke sighed as she looked down at the chart.

“If it’s dislocated, I’m going to need your help,” Clarke said, admitting defeat, “and it’s going to cost you more than a coffee O…”

“Deal.” Octavia replied with a nod.

Clarke walked through to the waiting room. It was still pretty busy, but Clarke figured the nurses that were still there would deal with most of the patients until her mother got there.

“Okay,” Clarke said with a sigh, looking down at the chart again, “Alexandria Woods?”

Both Clarke and Octavia looked around to see a girl not much older than them stand up. The first thing that Clarke noticed was her eyes, the artist in her trying to figure out just what shade of green they were, while also noticing the small gold and hazel flecks. The next thing that caught Clarke’s attention was her hair, it was being held back from her face by intricate braids. She was wearing tight black jeans, biker boots, a leather jacket and a white top underneath. She was cradling her left arm, it was pretty obvious to Clarke, without even looking at the chart, the problem was with her left shoulder.

“Hot damn…” Octavia said quietly, “you still needing help Princess?”

Clarke looked at Octavia and shook her head a little.

“You are unbelievable,” she said, “You know that, right.”

“Just saying she’s hot,” Octavia replied with a shrug, “and your type.”

“She’s here because she’s hurt…” Clarke started to say.

“And she’s also hot.” Octavia said with a smile.

Clarke knew Octavia was right, on both counts, the girl was hot and she was so her type, but she was never going to admit that. Alexandria walked over to where they were standing.

“Hi,” Octavia said with a smile, “I’m Octavia and this is Clarke.”

“Are you two even old enough to be qualified?” the other girl asked.

“Fully qualified,” Clarke replied, “let’s get your arm looked at.”

“Right this way…” Octavia said, motioning after Clarke.

As they walked into a small room Octavia closed the door behind them.

“Okay Alexandria…” Clarke started to say.

“Lexa,” the other girl said, interrupting Clarke, “I prefer Lexa.”

“Lexa…” Clarke said with a small smile, “Can you take your jacket off and jump up on the bed so I can take a look at your shoulder.”

Lexa sat on the bed and started taking her jacket off, grimacing in pain.

“Here…” Clarke said, helping her take the jacket off, “let me help you with that.”

“Thanks.” Lexa replied quietly.

As soon as Lexa’s jacket was off Clarke could clearly see that her left shoulder was dislocated.

“Ouch,” Clarke said, softly examining Lexa’s shoulder, “you want to tell me how this happened?”

“Work.” Lexa replied, wincing as Clarke pushed on her shoulder a little.

“Sorry…” Clarke said, “O, can you please see if the X-ray room is clear.”

“Sure thing Dr Griffin.” Octavia said with a smile as she left the room, Clarke shook her head a little, knowing that smile all too well.

“Can’t you just pop it back in?” Lexa asked, turning her head and looking at Clarke.

“I need to see if it’s a clean dislocation,” Clarke explained, “if I try popping it back in and the joint is out of place, even slightly twisted, then the muscle might be strained or damaged. Your nerves may get twisted as it goes back in, which could lead to nerve damage in your arm or your hand…”

Lexa had a small smirk on her lips and her eyebrow arched slightly.

“What?” Clarke asked.

“You were babbling.” Lexa replied.

“Sorry,” Clarke said with a laugh “basically, popping it back in without an x-ray could do more damage.”

“Right,” Lexa said with a sigh, “is this going to take long?”

“If the x-ray room is empty, no,” Clarke said with a small shake of her head, “you have somewhere you need to be at 4:15 in the morning?”

“Yes,” the brunette said, “home, in bed.”

“Good point.” Clarke replied with a laugh.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

An x-ray showed it had been a clean dislocation which Clarke had popped back in without much trouble, before giving Lexa some painkillers and anti-inflammatories, before sending her on her way. By the time they were done Abby had arrived and Clarke and Octavia headed home.

Clarke collapsed on her bed, falling asleep pretty quickly. She hadn’t been sleeping too well since she arrived back in the city, but a week on very little sleep had finally caught up with her.

She woke up to the smell of coffee filling the apartment. Checking her phone she saw that it was almost 4pm. She vaguely remembered falling asleep on her bed fully clothed, not in her bed wearing a t-shirt. Getting out of bed she put on her sweatpants before walking through to the open plan kitchen and living room area. Raven and Octavia were arguing about something, stopping when they saw Clarke.

“Sleeping beauty awakes.” Octavia said with a smile as she poured Clarke a coffee.

“Thanks,” Clarke replied, taking the cup as she sat on one of the stools at the island in the kitchen, “how did I end up in bed?”

“Guilty,” Raven said with a small smile, “your door was open when I woke up, and you wouldn’t have slept too comfortably fully clothed, so I helped.”

“Thanks.” The blonde replied.

“Don’t mention it” Raven said, “It’s not the first time I’ve undressed you and put you to bed.”

“We said we weren’t going to talk about that again.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“Well I lied.” Raven replied with a laugh of her own.

“So,” Octavia said, “what’s the plan before we meet up with Bellamy and the others?”

“Is that tonight?” Clarke asked with a groan.

“Yes,” Octavia said with a nod, “and you promised you’d come. We have tomorrow night off before starting the evening shift the day after, so we’re going out and getting wasted.”

“I don’t know guys…” Clarke said with a sigh, “it’s been a long week, I might just stay here and chill with a movie or something.”

“Not happening Princess,” Raven said, “you’ve been back a little over a week and we haven’t all hung out yet. We’re only going to Grounders, which I have to say you haven’t been to yet, so you’re coming.”

“Don’t the Trikru family own that place?” Octavia asked, her brow furrowed as she looked at Raven.

“Rumoured to.” Raven replied with a small nod.

“The who?” Clarke asked, completely confused.

“Only one of the biggest organised crime families in the city,” Octavia replied, looking over at Clarke, “They control one of the street gangs that are having a turf war.”

“I think my mom mentioned that,” Clarke said, “she said something about wanting security for the clinic.”

“Because the clinic is in neutral territory,” Raven explained, “I’ve lost count of the number of gang members your mom has treated over the last few years. The clinic is safe for now though, they both need it so they aren’t likely to cause trouble there.”

“Unlike your garage.” Octavia said to Raven.

“I just have to refuse certain customers,” the other girl said with a shrug, “it’s not a big deal. Plus the Trikru family keep a lot of business coming my way, and the money is good.”

“You’re a mechanic for a crime family?” Clarke asked.

“Not intentionally,” Raven replied with a laugh, “but like I said, the money is good.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

A few hours later Clarke was walking towards Grounders, a nightclub and bar not far from the clinic. There was a line of people waiting outside.

“Oh great…” Clarke said as they got closer to the club.

“Not a problem,” Raven said with a wink as she walked up to one of the doormen, “Hey Nyko.”

“Raven,” Nyko replied with a smile, “your friends are already inside, though you didn’t tell me one of them was a cop.”

“You’ve met Bellamy before,” the girl said, “You know he’s no trouble. This is Clarke and Octavia.”

“Welcome ladies,” he said to Clarke and Octavia, before unclipping the rope and letting them in, “enjoy your night.”

“You know him?” Clarke asked quietly as they walked inside.

“I fixed his car last week.” Raven said with a shrug, looking around for Bellamy and the others.

Bellamy waved them over to the booth towards the back, as they were making their way over Octavia nudged Clarke.

“What?” Clarke asked.

“Behind the bar…” Octavia replied, causing both Raven and Clarke to look over.

There, standing behind the bar serving drinks, was Lexa.

“Who’s the hottie?” Raven asked.

“She was Clarke’s last patient this morning.” Octavia said with a smirk, “See Clarke, even Raven thinks she hot.”

“Lexa…” Clarke said.

“Alexandria Woods?” Raven asked, her eyes widening a little.

“Yeah, why?” Clarke asked in reply.

“You do not want to get mixed up in that, Princess,” Raven said with a laugh, “trust me.”

“Not that I intended to,” Clarke said as they sat at the booth, “but why not?”

“Why not what?” Bellamy asked looking between Raven and Clarke.

“I was just telling Clarke that she doesn’t want to get mixed up with Alexandria Woods.” Raven said, reaching over and taking Bellamy’s drink, before taking a mouthful and giving it back.

“Without telling me why.” The blonde said, her eyes drifting back to Lexa.

“She’s rumoured to be pretty high ranking in the Trikru gang,” Bellamy explained, “she’s Gustus’s niece or something, and he’s the head of the family.”

“If she’s high ranking in some organised crime family, why is she working here?” Clarke asked, like it was the most obvious question in the world.

“They all work here.” Monty replied, “Pretty much everyone you see working here is in the gang…”

“Yeah,” Jasper said with a nod, “or they just hang out here, it’s like their headquarters or something.”

Nobody had noticed Lexa heading towards the table, so when she got there they all jumped a little.

“What can I get you all?” Lexa asked, looking around the group.

“I didn’t know they did table service here.” Jasper said.

“We do when you’re in a VIP booth,” Lexa replied, “so what will it be?”

“Hi Lexa.” Octavia said with a smile.

“Octavia,” Lexa replied with a small nod, “hey Clarke…”

“Hey,” Clarke said, “how’s your arm?”

“Hurts.” Lexa said with a little nod.

“Did you take the painkillers?” Clarke asked, not noticing Raven and Octavia smirking at each other.

“I took a couple this morning, but they make me drowsy,” Lexa answered, “can’t be drowsy at work.”

“Take the anti-inflammatories then,” Clarke said, fully slipping into Doctor mode, “they’ll dull the pain and take down the muscle swelling, which is actually what causes the pain in the first place. When the bone comes out of the joint…”

Everyone at the table was now looking at Clarke, as was Lexa, who had a small smile on her face.

“I’m babbling again aren’t I…?” Clarke said, to which Lexa nodded, “Sorry… I’ll have a whiskey and coke please, no ice…”

As Lexa wrote down what everyone was having to drink, Clarke just couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the girl. She noticed the white top, which Lexa was wearing, showed off her arms. Clarke could tell she definitely worked out, as her eyes travelled a little lower she was sure she could almost see Lexa’s abs through the fabric of the shirt. The girl’s voice snapped Clarke from her thoughts.

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.” Lexa said.

As she walked away Clarke was sure she saw her smirk a little.

“Medical babble Clarke, really?” Bellamy asked, looking at the blonde.

“What?” Clarke asked in reply.

“You remember I said that was a bad idea right.” Raven said her eyebrow arched slightly.

“I was just…” Clarke started to say.

“You only babble like that when you think someone’s hot.” Monty said, causing everyone else to nod in agreement.

“I do not…” Clarke replied, glancing over at the bar where Lexa was getting their drinks.

“So you don’t think she’s hot?” Jasper asked.

“Well I didn’t say that.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“What better way to get over someone, than to get under someone else.” Octavia said, causing everyone to laugh as Lexa brought their drinks over.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The evening continued on as the club started to get busier. Raven and Octavia were dancing a few drinks later when Clarke and Bellamy noticed a small commotion near the side door of the club, next to the bar. Two big guys came in the side door, a girl slumped between them. Most of the rest of the people in the club didn’t pay much attention, but as Bellamy was a cop and Clarke was a doctor they certainly noticed the blood covering the girls stomach.

“Clarke…” Bellamy said.

“I see it…” Clarke replied as another guy walked over to their booth.

“Which one of you is the doctor?” he asked, looking between them.

“That would be me.” Clarke replied.

“I need you to come with me.” He said, turning and walking back the way he had come.

Clarke didn’t argue as she stood up and followed the guy through a side door and into what looked like an office. She saw Nyko, the guy from the door, putting pressure on a folded up shirt that was being pushed onto the stomach wound. Lexa was pacing back and forth as Clarke walked in.

“Can you help her?” Lexa asked, motioning to the girl on the table.

Clarke walked over to the girl, the others around the table all moved back a bit, giving Clarke some space. Nyko moved his hands so Clarke could see the wound, there was a lot of blood.

“What happened to her?” Clarke asked as she checked the girl over.

Nobody said anything, but they all looked at Lexa. Clarke looked at her before looking back to the girl on the table. Her knuckles were bleeding, she had a cut under her left eye. As she lifted the girl’s shirt she could see bruising developing on the girl’s ribs.

“I need to know what I’m dealing with if you want me to help her.” Clarke said to Lexa.

“She’s been in a fight,” Lexa said, “Can you help her?”

“She needs to go to hospital.” Clarke replied.

“I told you this would be pointless.” One of the guys sad.

“Hospitals ask too many questions, Clarke.” Lexa said.

Clarke put the shirt that had been used to stow the blood flow back over the wound before she looked at Nyko.

“Keep pressure there,” she said to him, he nodded in reply, putting his hands where Clarke’s had been, “I need to talk to Bellamy.”

“He’s a cop.” Another person said, looking between Clarke and Lexa.

“I need him to go to the clinic, get my mother and the trauma kit,” Clarke said to Lexa, “I can’t help her without my mother and some equipment. She’s bleeding internally.”

Lexa nodded a little, letting Clarke know that she could go and talk to Bellamy, though from the look on Lexa’s face Clarke could tell she didn’t like the idea too much.

“He’s a cop.” The guy said again.

Lexa just looked at him as Clarke walked from the room and back to the booth where Bellamy was still sitting, not noticing the blood on her hands.

“What’s going on?” Bellamy asked.

“I need you to go to the clinic, get my mom and ask her to bring the trauma kit.” Clarke replied.

“Clarke…” Bellamy said.

“Please,” Clarke said, “just do it…”

With a grumble Bellamy stood up and went to the door. Clarke turned back to walk back to the room. As she turned she walked into Lexa, who was now standing right behind her.

“Do you trust him?” Lexa asked, her arms crossed across her chest.

“Yes,” Clarke replied with a nod, “I do.”

Lexa looked at Clarke for a moment, obviously searching for some form of doubt, finding none she stepped aside and let Clarke walk past.

“I’m going to need towels, water and ice,” Clarke said, “and Octavia’s help.”

Lexa rolled her eyes a little.

“If you want me to help her,” Clarke said stepping closer to Lexa, “you’re going to have to trust me.”

“I’ll get you what you need…” Lexa replied with a sigh.

“Thank you.” Clarke said before walking back to the small office.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

While Clarke and Octavia were working on slowing the bleeding another guy walked into the room. From the tense atmosphere which settled over the room Clarke figured he must be someone important.

“Who’s that?” Clarke quietly asked Octavia.

“Gustus Trikru…” Octavia replied just as quietly.

“Raven,” Gustus said to the girl who was standing against the wall near the door, “friends of yours?”

Clarke saw Raven nod before Gustus whispered something to Lexa, something that made Lexa clench her jaw as she nodded, before Gustus left the room again.

“I want a name,” Lexa said to one of the guys, “and I want it now.”

He nodded before leaving the room.

“Problems?” Nyko asked Lexa.

“He wants it taken care of.” Lexa replied.

At that moment Abby and Bellamy arrived. Abby made her way over to the table.

“Can we clear this room,” Abby said as she put a pair of gloves on, before handing a pair to Clarke and Octavia, “we need room to work.”

Nobody moved, Clarke looked at Lexa.

“Everybody out,” Lexa said, “now.”

As everyone started to leave Clarke looked at Lexa again.

“Thank you…” she said, Lexa nodded in reply before she started pacing again.

“I really should call this in…” Bellamy said, causing Lexa to look at him.

“You understand just where you’re standing right now,” she said, “you know your boss isn’t going to investigate this.”

“It’s my job.” Bellamy replied as Lexa took a step closer to him.

“I suggest you let it go,” Lexa said, “we take care of our own.”

“And if she dies?” Bellamy asked, motioning to the girl on the table, “then what? This is a serious assault.”

“Anya,” Lexa replied, “her name is Anya, and we’ll take care of it.”

Bellamy didn’t argue, though he knew he really should call it in, he knew Lexa was right. Gangs were pretty much left to their own devices, especially as Bellamy knew his boss was on friendly terms with Gustus Trikru. Everyone who was left in the room were silent as Abby and Clarke stopped the bleeding, working together it didn’t take them as long as Clarke thought it would.

“She really should be taken to hospital.” Abby said as she took her gloves off.

“Can we not monitor her at the clinic?” Clarke asked, knowing that Lexa wouldn’t agree to Anya going to hospital.

“I can arrange transport to get her to the clinic.” Lexa said when Abby didn’t say no to Clarke.

Once Lexa left it meant Clarke, Abby, Octavia, Raven and Bellamy were alone in the room.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” Abby asked Clarke.

“Saved someone’s life.” Clarke replied coldly.

“You have just landed us smack bang in the middle of a gang turf war.” Abby said, as she turned away from her daughter and walked to the other side of the room.

“They weren’t going to take her to hospital,” Clarke said, “What choice did I have?”

“You could have chosen not to get involved.” Abby replied.

“I didn’t go through medical school to stand by and watch as someone died.” The blonde said.

“Did they say what happened to her?” Bellamy asked as he looked from Clarke to the girl on the table.

“No,” Clarke said shaking her head, “and I think you should probably listen to Lexa…”

“I agree with the Princess,” Raven said, pushing herself away from the wall, “you don’t want to get caught up in this Bell, I know it’s your job, and you’re a damn good cop, but…”

“This is something that I can’t stop…” Bellamy said with a nod, “I know…”

A few moments later Lexa walked back into the room.

“You get some transport sorted?” Clarke asked.

“Yes,” Lexa nodded, “there’s a flatbed truck parked near the side door, we’ll take her in that.”

“That’s safe…” Abby said sarcastically.

Lexa just looked at her, before she opened her mouth to say something, Clarke walked over to her mother.

“Why don’t we go back to the clinic,” Clarke said to Abby, “make sure that we have what we need to monitor Anya there…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The sun was just starting to come up as Clarke left the clinic, her night was a lot more eventful than she thought it would be. Raven and Octavia had gone home at around 4, both tired. Clarke had stayed behind to keep an eye on Anya, who had been put in one of the few private rooms in the clinic. The blonde knew that keeping her there, rather than taking her to the hospital, would make it harder to get through the patient lists at the clinic, as it put them one room down. But she also knew that it was the best thing. Clarke also knew that even though her mom was irritated by what she had done, Abby herself would have done the same thing, they were both doctors, saving people was what they did.

She hadn’t seen Lexa since Anya was dropped off at the clinic, the brunette had got a phone call a few minutes afterwards and told Clarke that there was something she needed to take care of. As she made her way from the clinic Clarke tried to get Lexa out of her head, but all that she could see in her mind were those green eyes. The way that Lexa had seemed genuinely worried about Anya, not just the way someone would be about someone they worked with, but the way someone would be worried about someone they actually cared about.

“How is she?” a familiar voice asked.

Clarke turned to see Lexa leaning against the alleyway near the clinic, standing slightly in the shadows so Clarke couldn’t actually see her face properly.

“She’s okay,” Clarke said with a nod, once she had got her heart to stop feeling like it was going to jump out of her chest, “she’s not awake yet, but her vitals are all good.”

“Good…” Lexa replied with a nod.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asked, walking closer to Lexa she could see that the other girl had obviously been involved in some kind of fight herself.

“Yeah,” Lexa said, pushing herself away from the wall, “just had something that needed taking care of.”

Clarke walked closer to Lexa, she softly put her hand under Lexa’s chin, lifting her face a little. Once she could see her face properly her breath caught in her throat.

“Jesus…” Clarke said.

“You should see the other guy.” Lexa replied with a small smile.

“Should I text my mom, let her know that the other guy will probably be arriving there soon?” Clarke asked, trying to lighten her tone a little, though she was obviously worried.

“My guys dropped him at the hospital,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “there are somethings that even your mom won’t be able to fix…”

“Is he…?” Clarke asked.

Lexa shrugged.

“He was still breathing when he got there.” She said.

“So this is what you do, huh?” Clarke asked, finally moving her hand from Lexa’s chin, “go around cleaning up other people’s mess?”

“No,” Lexa replied, “I do what I have to do to protect my people. The guy who did this to my face, is the one who nearly killed Anya. That couldn’t be allowed to stand…”

“Who is she to you?” Clarke asked.

“She’s my cousin,” Lexa said, “Gustus’s daughter. But she’s more than that, she’s more like an older sister. My parents died when I was a kid, Gustus and Indra took me in. So when he asks me to take care of the idiot who did that to her, of course I’m going to do it…”

“Come on…” Clarke said.

“Where are we going?” Lexa asked, following Clarke from the alleyway.

“Back to the clinic, get those cuts cleaned up.” The blonde replied.

“Is your mom still there?” Lexa asked, scuffing her boots on the floor as she walked.

“Yes.” Clarke said with a nod.

“In that case I think I’ll pass,” the other girl replied, “I’m not exactly her favourite person right now.”

“Then we’ll go to my place,” Clarke said with a shrug, “it’s not too far from here, and I’ve got everything there that I’d need to clean up your face.”

“Why?” Lexa asked as she stopped walking.

“Why what?” the blonde asked, turning to look at her.

“You don’t even know me, Clarke,” Lexa said, “why do you care? I mean you’re talking about taking me back to your place, just to clean up a few cuts on my face. I’ve had worse, believe me. How do you know I’m not some kind of axe murderer or something…?”

“I’d love to know where you keep your axe in that outfit.” Clarke said with a laugh, causing Lexa to laugh a little, “I like to help people, it’s what I do…”

“Some people you just can’t help…” Lexa said quietly.

“You could at least let me try.” Clarke replied with a soft smile.

“Not tonight,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little as she turned to walk away from Clarke, “see you around Doctor Griffin.”

Clarke stood as she watched Lexa walk away. The blonde had no idea why she wanted to help her, but she did. Sure she knew that Lexa had beaten a guy to what was probably within an inch of his life that night, but that didn’t seem to bother her as much as she thought it would. There was something more to Lexa, and Clarke wanted to find out just what it was.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most people seem to want this to continue, so here we go. This is nothing like anything I've ever tried to write before, so please keep the reviews coming as that lets me know whether you're all still liking it. This is a very Lexa heavy chapter, hope you enjoy reading it.

 

Lexa groaned as she opened her eyes, her body ached everywhere and she felt like she had gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. Thinking back to the night before she realised she hadn’t been far wrong. Once she had been given the name of the person who nearly killed Anya, she and 5 of the Trikru gang drove to Luna’s Bar. It was a small place in the neutral zone, both Trikru and Azgeda were welcome there, though to see both in there on the same night was a rarity. They all had respect for Luna though, she had been where they now were and had spent 7 years locked up in jail for it. After she was released from jail she had taken the money Gustus had given her and opened the bar. It was a fresh start for Luna, she had a small child to look after, who she had fought like hell to get back from the state when she got out of prison.

Lexa and her guys had waited outside the bar in the truck, knowing that the person they wanted was in the bar, but not wanting to go in and mess everything up for Luna. When the Azgeda member and his friends finally left the bar, Lexa had got out of the truck, it hadn’t taken long for his friends to run off. The sight of Lexa tended to do that to most people, and they obviously knew why she was there.

It wasn’t 5 minutes later that they were loading the guy into the back of the truck and driving him to the hospital. Lexa had wanted nothing more than to drive to the river and just throw him in, but Gustus had wanted this to stand as a message. They weren’t supposed to kill him, though Lexa knew that she had come close to ending his pathetic existence.

She dragged herself out of bed and made her way through to her kitchen. The sight she saw in the living room made her roll her eyes a little. She had obviously left the kitchen window open the night before because there was a cat sleeping on her sofa. She didn’t own a cat. She had, however, let a stray cat in through her kitchen window one night when there was a torrential downpour, Anya had told her she would regret it because the cat would keep coming back. As she walked towards the kitchen the cat opened one eye and looked at her.

“You don’t actually live here you know.” She said to the cat.

She continued her journey to the kitchen and started making coffee, as she poured herself a cup and turned back around she saw the cat sitting on the island. With a sigh she opened up one of the cupboards and took out a small plate, grabbing a tin of tuna from the cupboard she gave the cat some breakfast. As she put the plate down on the island the cat rubbed up against her hand and started purring.

“That doesn’t mean I like you.” Lexa said as she heard her phone ringing, she looked at the screen and didn’t recognise the number, “hello?”

“Next time you beat the crap out of someone outside my bar, can you let me know so I can clean the blood off the sidewalk before the police turn up the next morning.” Came the reply.

“Sorry, Luna,” Lexa said with a small laugh, “I probably should’ve thought of that.”

“So it was you then…” Luna replied.

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a sigh, “it was…”

“Well thank you for not doing it inside my bar.” Luna said, “what did he do anyway?”

“Nearly killed Anya…” Lexa replied honestly, “Gus wanted it taken care of.”

“There was a lot of blood, did you kill the kid?” the other woman asked.

“He wasn’t dead when we dropped him at the hospital.” Lexa said, rolling her neck till it clicked.

“Why the hospital,” Luna said, “I thought you guys were all using the Griffin clinic.”

“Not for much longer…” Lexa replied, “it’s just going to complicate things.”

“Mrs G has never complicated things before, why would she start now?” Luna asked, Lexa could hear Tris in the background, shouting about wanting to talk to Lexa, “the kid wants to see you by the way, you still owe her ice cream.”

“Maybe once my face looks a little better,” Lexa said with a laugh, “and it isn’t Mrs G who is the problem, it’s the other Doctor Griffin… her daughter.”

“Ah.” Luna replied, Lexa knew she’d be smirking away on the other end of the line.

“Don’t ‘ah’ me,” Lexa groaned, “and quit smirking too.”

“So I take it she’s hot.” Luna said with a laugh.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself when you go and visit Anya.” Lexa replied.

“Lex…” Luna said.

“Luna, come on, it’s been two years,” Lexa said, interrupting her, “she knows we still talk, she knows that Gustus and Indra watch Tris for you a couple of times a month, just talk to her.”

“I’ll think about it.” Luna replied with a sigh.

“You said that last time, and the time before that.” Lexa reminded her.

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, I do.” Lexa replied with a laugh as she hung up the phone, knowing that was going to be the end of the conversation.

Anya hadn’t taken it too well when Luna decided to leave the gang life behind her. They’d grown up together, done everything together, so when Luna decided to get out, Anya took it personally.

A knock at the door tore Lexa from her thoughts, looking at the time on her phone she sighed. There was a general rule, no one was ever to knock on her door before 10:30am. It was now 10:31. Looking through the spyhole she saw it was Ryder, one of Gustus’s messengers.

“What?” Lexa asked as she opened the door.

“Gustus wants you to take this to the clinic.” He replied, handing her an envelope that was addressed to Clarke.

“Why can’t you take it?” Lexa asked him.

“Because that isn’t what Gustus wants,” Ryder said, “he also wants you to make sure she isn’t going to say anything, and make sure that cop friend of hers isn’t going to talk.”

“Bellamy won’t say anything, he’s an idiot but he’s not stupid,” Lexa said, grimacing a little, “and if Clarke was going to say anything about it, she would have done it already.”

“Just passing on the message,” Ryder replied, “you look like shit by the way.”

Lexa shut the door in his face and looked at the envelope in her hands. She knew that she should probably talk to Bellamy, just to make sure he wasn’t going to say anything. She knew that Clarke wouldn’t talk, there was probably some doctor patient confidentiality thing that would stop her anyway.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

After taking a shower she got on her bike and drove to the police station, the officer at the desk gave her directions to where Bellamy would be, as soon as she walked through the doors of the ‘gang and violent crime’ division she couldn’t stop the smirk playing on her lips. There on the wall were posters of the Trikru gang, her picture wasn’t there though, which she was mildly irritated about. A woman detective walked over to her and Lexa couldn’t help but admire how she looked in her moderately expensive suit.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked.

“I’m looking for Bellamy Blake.” Lexa replied.

“Who shall I tell him wants to see him?” the woman replied.

“Alexandria Woods.” Lexa said, a small smirk on her lips as she saw a hint of recognition in the woman’s eyes.

“Wait right here, I’ll just go and find him.” The woman said in a rushed way that made Lexa laugh.

“Can I get a coffee while I wait?” Lexa asked, her voice full of amusement.

“Sure,” the woman said, “Cage, get Miss Woods a coffee.”

Lexa looked at the guy who was currently walking towards her.

“I didn’t know we served coffee to criminals.” Cage said, eyeing Lexa.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Detective Cage.” Lexa replied.

“I will catch you one day.” He said as he walked towards the coffee machine.

“On second thoughts,” Lexa said, “scratch the coffee.”

Lexa could feel a lot of eyes on her as she waited for Bellamy, she’d found his desk and was currently sitting on it, waiting for him. She hated the police station, but she loved the amusement she felt when she was there. They all knew who she was, what she was suspected of doing and what she was involved with, but none of them could prove a thing. It didn’t take long for Bellamy to arrive.

“Miss Woods.” He said as he walked over to his desk, “sorry for keeping you waiting, I was just in a meeting.”

“More gang violence in the area Detective?” Lexa asked with a challenging smile as she jumped down from his desk.

“A member of the Azgeda gang was dumped outside the hospital in the early hours of this morning,” he replied, sitting on his chair and motioning for her to take the one opposite, “you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”

“Can’t say I do,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, choosing to remain standing rather than taking a seat, “is he okay?”

“You sound like you actually care.” He said.

“Just trying to be a good citizen, Detective Blake.” She replied with a smile.

“He’s in intensive care,” Bellamy said, “we have no leads at all, and Luna has decided to be as helpful as ever.”

“Guess it’s just going to be another gang related assault that you can’t solve.” Lexa said, “that’s not why I’m here anyway, it’s about last night at Grounders.”

“No idea what you’re talking about Miss Woods.” He replied.

“Must have been a good night then,” Lexa said, standing up, “one more thing, can you pass this on to Clarke?”

She dropped an envelope on his desk.

“What is it?” Bellamy asked.

“No idea,” she replied, “just make sure she gets it.”

Bellamy nodded a little as she started to walk away. Before she got to the door she turned back.

“It was good to see you again Detective Blake.” She said with a smile, as she walked through the doors and left the building, knowing that her parting words would raise questions.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Raven and Octavia were laying on the sofa watching yet another episode of Orphan Black when Bellamy finally arrived. As both Octavia and Clarke had the night off they were all having a pizza and Netflix night.

“What’s up?” Octavia asked as Bellamy dropped himself down on the chair in the living room.

“I had a visitor at work today…” Bellamy replied, his eyes flicking from Raven to Clarke.

“Oh yeah?” Raven asked, grabbing more popcorn from the bowl on the table.

“Alexandria Woods.” Bellamy said, feeling all eyes on him.

“Bet that was fun, considering you work gangs and violent crime.” Raven said with a laugh, “what did she want?”

“To remind me that I shouldn’t be talking about what happened at Grounders last night,” he said, “and to ask me to pass this on to Clarke.”

He threw the envelope onto the table, it slipped across the surface and stopped near Clarke.

“What is it?” the blonde asked, picking it up.

“No idea,” Bellamy replied with a shrug, “I can’t believe she actually showed up at the station, does she not realise how many questions that’s going to raise.”

“To be honest Bell, I don’t think she really cares.” Raven said with a small laugh.

Clarke opened the envelope and inside she found a cheque for $10,000 signed by Gustus Trikru. Raven, Octavia and Bellamy were all looking at her as she looked down at the cheque.

“Well, Princess, what is it?” Raven asked, Clarke didn’t answer she just handed the cheque to Raven, “wow, that’s a nice chunk of change…”

Raven passed it to Octavia who then passed it to Bellamy.

“I can’t accept that…” Clarke said after a while.

“It’s probably meant as payment for Anya’s treatment,” Raven said with a shrug, “I wouldn’t think too much of it.”

“Then it should be made out to the clinic or my mother,” Clarke said, “not to me.”

“It’s money to keep you quiet…” Bellamy replied, putting the cheque on the table, “we all know that.”

“Gustus doesn’t pay people to be quiet,” Raven said, sitting up on the sofa, “he usually just asks them…”

“And if they don’t listen?” Octavia asked.

“Then he sends someone else to ask, not quite so nicely.” The other girl said.

“Someone like Lexa…” Clarke replied.

“Eventually…” Raven said with a nod, “Lexa is kind of like the last resort, if all else fails…”

“What happened to her last night?” Bellamy asked, “After she left the clinic? When she turned up at the station she looked like she’d been in a fight, and we have a case with an Azgeda gang member in intensive care.”

“We left the clinic at around 4,” Octavia said, looking at Raven who nodded in agreement, “Lexa hadn’t come back by that point, Clarke?”

The three of them were looking at her. Obviously she knew that Lexa was the one responsible for the gang member in intensive care, she’d seen her when she left the clinic in the early hours of the morning. She had to make a decision, tell her friends the truth, or lie.

“She didn’t come back to the clinic before I left.” Clarke said, which wasn’t exactly a lie.

“So you didn’t see her?” Bellamy asked.

“No,” Clarke said, shaking her head a little, “didn’t see her. I’m going to return this cheque, I can’t accept it.”

The blonde stood up and walked to her room, she needed to get changed before she went to Grounders, she couldn’t exactly go in her sweatpants and a t-shirt. As she closed her bedroom door, Bellamy looked at Raven.

“She’s lying, right?” he said.

“She’s certainly not telling the truth about something…” Raven said with a sigh, her eyes locked on Clarke’s bedroom door.

“I’ll go with her to Grounders,” Octavia said, “see if I can figure it out.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Bellamy asked.

“Well you can’t go, cause you’re a cop, and Lexa’s already paid you a visit at work once, wouldn’t want that happening again,” Octavia said, standing up, “and Raven can’t go cause right now her business kind of relies on that family, she fucks it up, she’s screwed. Which leaves me.”

“Or we could just leave her to figure this out on her own,” Raven replied, “She’s a big girl.”

“It’s Clarke,” Octavia said, walking towards her room, “she isn’t going to figure it out. She never figures it out. She’s lying to protect Lexa already, she’s known the girl for five minutes, she has no idea what she’s getting herself into.”

“She has a point…” Bellamy said as Octavia closed the door.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

There was a queue outside Grounders again when Clarke and Octavia arrived, though neither girl paid much attention as they walked up to Nyko.

“Is Lexa working tonight?” Clarke asked.

“Yes,” Nyko replied, “though it’s pretty busy in there, she won’t have much time to chat.”

“This won’t take long.” Clarke said as he unclipped the rope and let them in.

Both girls walked into the club and started to walk towards the bar, a woman who was standing at the end of the bar was watching them very closely, a woman that Clarke had never seen before.

“Who’s that…?” Clarke asked Octavia.

“That is Indra…” Octavia replied, “Gustus’s wife. If she’s here something is going on…”

Clarke tried to ignore the feeling she was getting as Indra watched her, and walked over to where Lexa was serving a couple of guys.

“Can we talk?” Clarke asked, her voice raised so Lexa could hear her over the music.

“I’m a little busy right now,” Lexa replied, putting two beers down in front of the guys, “can it wait?”

“Not really…” Clarke said.

“Can you talk while I work?” the brunette asked in reply, taking $20 from the guys and walking over to the cash register.

“It won’t take long,” Clarke said, taking the cheque out of her pocket, “what’s this?”

Lexa looked at the cheque as she was getting the change from the $20.

“Looks like a cheque.” Lexa replied, walking back and giving the guys their change.

“This is what you asked Bellamy to pass on to me today,” Clarke said, “I can’t accept this.”

“It’s a gift,” Lexa replied, “you can’t give it back, gift’s don’t usually work that way.”

“It’s not a gift Lexa, it’s hush money and you know it.” Clarke said a little too loudly.

“So pay it into the clinic’s account, call it an anonymous donation,” Lexa said, leaning over the bar a little, “do whatever you want with it.”

“I can’t do that, everything that gets paid into that account has to go through my mother first.” Clarke said.

“Then stick it in a frame on your wall,” Lexa replied, “I don’t care. It is what it is Clarke, you can’t just turn up here and give it back, that isn’t the way this works. It’s payment for what you and your mom did for Anya. You do accept payment for treatment, right.”

“And what happens if someone finds out that we accepted money from a crime family?” Clarke asked.

“Lexa,” Indra said, interrupting them, “take this away from the bar, now.”

Lexa nodded and motioned for Clarke to follow her to the back room, as they passed Indra, the older woman grabbed Clarke’s arm, stopping her.

“That mouth of yours will get you into trouble.” Indra said quietly.

“Indra…” Lexa said, stepping up to the older woman, “let her go…”

Indra dropped Clarke’s arm and the blonde followed Lexa into the back room, Octavia following on behind them.

Lexa held the door open, letting Clarke and Octavia walk in before her, closing the door behind them. The room had been cleaned since the previous night and you’d never be able to tell that someone had nearly died on the table. Lexa sat in the chair behind the table, resting her feet on it as she leaned back in the chair.

“So what’s the problem?” Lexa asked with a sigh, looking at Clarke.

“If it was payment for treatment, it should have gone directly to my mother, not to me.” Clarke said, putting the cheque down on the table in front of Lexa.

“He already paid your mother,” Lexa replied honestly, “Nyko did that earlier. That money is for you. For what you did in here last night. It’s that simple.”

“Well I don’t want it.” Clarke said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Take the money, Clarke.” Lexa said, clenching her jaw a little.

“Taking that money will mean that I’m now on his payroll.” Clarke said, “and I won’t accept that. I do not work for him.”

“Not taking the money is an insult.” Lexa said, dropping her feet to the floor as she stood up, “and you do not want that, so take the money.”

Clarke took the cheque from the table and tore it in two, letting the pieces drop to the floor.

“No.” she said.

Octavia’s eyes widened as she saw what Clarke had just done. Lexa stepped around the table, resting against it so she was now in front of Clarke.

“Anything else?” Lexa asked, her jaw clenched as she tried to keep her anger under control.

“Visiting Bellamy at work,” Clarke said, “that can’t happen again.”

“I was simply dropping in on the good police Detective,” Lexa said with a smirk, “how else was I supposed to get that envelope to you. I knew you wouldn’t be at the clinic, you didn’t leave there until around 6 this morning.”

“How do you know what time she left?” Octavia asked from where she was standing.

“Oh, didn’t Clarke tell you that she had seen me this morning?” Lexa asked looking at Octavia.

“She must have forgotten to mention it.” the younger girl replied.

“Anything else, Doctor Griffin?” Lexa asked, looking back to Clarke.

The blonde just shook her head and walked out of the office. When Octavia didn’t follow her, Lexa arched her eyebrow as she looked at her, questioning why she was still there.

“I’m probably going to regret this,” Octavia said with a sigh as she looked at Lexa, “but I just wanted to say that my brother’s job is very important to him, and he’s very good at it…”

“Clearly.” Lexa said with a little laugh.

“You turning up the way you did, being who you are, that’s going to cause him issues at work,” the younger girl continued, “he’s a good cop, he doesn’t need everyone at the station thinking he’s in your pocket. That is the right term, right?”

“It is,” Lexa said, pushing herself away from the table and walking closer to Octavia, “as long as your brother remembers to keep his mouth shut about what happened here last night, then we won’t have a problem.”

“And if he doesn’t?” Octavia asked.

“He doesn’t want to get on my bad side,” Lexa said, “trust me.”

“You don’t scare me, Lexa,” Octavia replied, “underneath all that attitude you’re just a person. Clarke sees something else in you, I don’t know what, I don’t really want to know either. She isn’t a pawn in your game. We’ve all been friends with her since we were kids, and she lied to us all about having seen you this morning.”

“Why would she do that?” Lexa asked.

“I have no idea,” the younger girl replied, “she obviously thinks she’s helping you.”

“I don’t need her help.” Lexa said.

“Well that isn’t going to stop her trying.” Octavia said, “I’ll show myself out.”

Lexa couldn’t stop the small laugh escaping her as Octavia left the room. The younger girl knew exactly who she was, what her family was capable of, yet she still had the balls to front her out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea what is going on with this part. It was fun to write though, seeing another side of Lexa and allowing Clarke to also see another side of Lexa. Let me know what you think. Just adding a bit in here in regards to a comment I got on this part. Here in the UK we have both front and back engine models of the R8, the front end engine models have rear seats as well as the usual front two seats. Just wanted to clear that up.

Clarke was laying on the sofa in the apartment she shared with Raven and Octavia, she was flicking through the channels on the TV, unable to find anything to watch. Her normal course of action would be Netflix, but it had got to the point where she had watched literally everything that was of any interest to her, and the Netflix suggestions for her now consisted of documentaries about Giant Squids. She was desperate, but not that desperate. Octavia was out, she’d said something about an appointment, Clarke didn’t really catch what she said because she’d literally just woken up.

Her phone started ringing, causing her to jump a little before she reached over to the table and grabbed it. Looking at the caller ID she saw it was Raven.

“Griffin’s nuthouse for the criminally insane…” Clarke said as she answered the phone.

“Wow, someone sounds bored,” Raven said with a laugh, “are you doing anything?”

“Not a thing,” Clare replied with a sigh, “what’s up, work a little slow?”

“The opposite,” Raven said, “which is kind of why I’m calling. O said she’d bring me some lunch, but I can’t reach her, so as you’re not doing anything…”

“The usual?” Clarke asked, sitting up and stretching a little.

“Please,” The other girl replied, “you’re the best.”

“I bet you say that to all the pretty girls who are bringing you lunch.” Clarke said with a laugh, “I’ll be there in like 30.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

After getting changed and picking up Raven’s order from the Dropship, Clarke had walked to the garage. When she walked in she could see what Raven had meant about being busy. There were three cars up on the hydraulic lifts, one was in need of some body work and Raven was busy with her head stuck under the hood of another one.

“Someone order lunch?” Clarke asked as she walked under one of the lifts.

“You’re a life saver Princess.” Raven replied, standing up and wiping her hands on her overalls.

“You know it doesn’t count if you’re wiping more grease onto your hands right…” Clarke said with a small smile as she handed Raven the bag.

“Don’t worry, I am going to wash my hands before I eat.” Raven said with a laugh.

“Good, cause I’m sure that sandwich will taste so much better without added engine oil,” the blonde replied, looking at the car Raven had just been working on, “this is a nice car…”

“That is an Audi R8.” Raven said with a smirk, “just needed a little engine work, it’s owner likes to drive it hard…”

“I’m guessing it’s a guy then.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“Nope.” Raven said, walking over to the car and running her hand over the hood, “this little baby belongs to a certain Alexandria Woods.”

“That’s Lexa’s car?” Clarke asked.

“One of them, yeah,” the other girl replied, “this her non-work car. From what Gustus said she takes it out into the hills and drives it there, not around the city.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa’s day was supposed to be simple, get up, do nothing, pick up her car and then go for a drive. But as she hung up the phone after getting a call from Luna, she knew it was going to be anything but simple. Tris had gotten into trouble for fighting, and Luna was in a meeting with some planning guy and couldn’t get away to pick her up from school, so she’d called Lexa. Gustus also had the great idea of calling Lexa to collect Anya from the clinic. She hadn’t told Luna that Anya would be at the house when she came by later to collect Tris, she figured it was time the two of them just talked.

One thing that Lexa knew would be in her favour, collecting Anya during the day from the clinic would mean she had no chance of running into Clarke. The blonde girl was driving her crazy and she had no idea why. Sure, Clarke was hot, anyone with eyes could see that, but Lexa also found her infuriating. Hot and infuriating women were like kryptonite to Lexa. She also had that thing where she wanted to help everyone. Add it all together and Lexa was pretty much screwed.

Part of Lexa’s issue was, it wasn’t just Clarke, it was everything that came with her. The friends. Octavia amused her, so she could see some entertainment value there. Raven was good with cars, but she knew more about Raven’s past than the girl herself did, so that would just cause problems in the long run. Then came Bellamy, the good Detective who really believed he could save the world.

They were innately good people, and Lexa herself was far from a good person. No matter how hot she thought Clarke was, and no matter how drawn to the girl she was, their worlds could never mix. Lexa couldn’t fit into Clarke’s world, and Clarke wouldn’t survive in hers.

Lexa shook her head as she made her way down the stairs in her apartment building, she had no idea why she was even thinking about Clarke like that, she’d known the girl for a matter of days. She didn’t even known if she was interested in girls, for all Lexa knew Clarke was straight.

“Not that it matters…” Lexa mumbled to herself as she exited the building and headed towards the school, “It’s never going to happen.”

The streets were pretty empty as Lexa walked towards the school building. She had hated school, never seeing the reason in going, she knew what she would be doing with her life. It hadn’t stopped her acing most of her exams and graduating High School close to the top of her class, which had amused Anya no end.

Pushing open the doors of the school she walked to the reception desk, seeing Tris sitting outside the Principles office, which was just behind the front desk.

“Can I help you?” the receptionist asked, looking at Lexa.

“I’m here to take that one home,” Lexa said, motioning behind the woman to Tris, who was now smiling like all her Christmases had come at once when she saw Lexa, “don’t smile like that, you’re in trouble kid.”

“You must be Alexandria,” the receptionist said with a smile, “her mother said that you’d be coming to collect her. Can you give her this please…”

She handed Lexa an envelope which was addressed to Luna.

“It just explains the terms of her suspension.” The receptionist concluded.

“Suspension?” Lexa asked.

“This is the third time this year that she has been caught fighting,” the receptionist explained, “that comes with an immediate three day suspension.”

“Right,” Lexa said, looking at Tris who was now looking at something very interesting on the floor, “let’s go squirt.”

Tris scuffed her feet as she walked around the desk and over to Lexa.

“Pick your feet up when you walk.” Lexa said, as she turned and walked towards the doors.

“Can we get ice cream?” Tris asked as she jumped down the school steps after Lexa.

“Naughty kids don’t get ice cream.” Lexa said, “plus we have to go and pick up my car then go and get Anya.”

“Then can we get ice cream?” the kid asked.

“No.” Lexa said, stopping as the girl caught up with her, “you just got suspended from school, what part of that says you’re going to get ice cream?”

“I don’t need school.” Tris said, kicking at a stone on the floor, “I’m going to work for Uncle Gustus when I’m bigger.”

“Don’t think so kid.” Lexa said as she started walking again.

“You work for him, mom used to work for him, Anya works for him,” Tris said, running to catch up with Lexa again, “why can’t I work for him.”

“Because,” Lexa said, stopping again and crouching down in front of the younger girl, “we don’t want this life for you. We want something better than this for you, do you understand that?”

Tris nodded a little.

“Why were you fighting anyway?” Lexa asked, standing up again and holding out her hand, which Tris took hold of.

“Jackson stole Megan’s chocolate bar at lunch,” Tris said, “he thinks just cause his brother is in a gang he can go stealing people’s chocolate bars, but he can’t, cause it’s not right. So I asked him for it back, and he said no.”

“So what did you do?” Lexa asked, fighting to keep the smile off her face.

“Hit him in the face with the lunch tray.” Tris replied with a shrug.

“You…” Lexa started to say, fighting the laugh that was threatening to escape her, “you hit him in the face with the lunch tray?”

“Yeah,” Tris said with a nod, “it was the flat part, so it didn’t hurt that much.”

“You can’t just go hitting people with lunch trays, squirt.” Lexa said, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself smiling.

“But he’s a bully,” Tris said, looking up at Lexa, “you always told me that bullies are mean and that I shouldn’t let them be.”

“I didn’t tell you to hit any of them though did I.” Lexa said.

“No…” Tris replied, “can we get…”

“No.” Lexa said shaking her head, “no ice cream.”

“Okay,” Tris said, pouting a little, “where we going?”

“We’re going to Raven’s so I can pick up my car,” Lexa said, “then we’re going to pick Anya up from the clinic.”

“Is she sick?” Tris asked.

“Not really,” Lexa said, trying to figure out the best way to explain to the kid what had happened, “she got hurt in a fight, which is why fighting is bad.”

“What happened to the person she was fighting?” Tris asked innocently.

“He got hurt too…” Lexa replied.

“Did you hit him with the lunch tray?” Tris asked, a big grin on her face.

“Something like that.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little.

They rounded the corner and walked towards Raven’s garage.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was sitting on one of the work benches while Raven worked, they were talking about what they were going to do the next time Clarke and Octavia had a night off. Clarke stopped talking when she heard a familiar voice, and a very unfamiliar one.

“Raven!” Tris yelled as she and Lexa walked into the garage.

Raven slid out from under the car, a small smile on her lips when she saw Tris and Lexa.

“Hey kid,” she said standing up, before she looked at Lexa, “you here for your car?”

“Well I’m certainly not here for the blistering company.” Lexa said with a smirk.

“You hear that Clarke,” Raven called over to her, “blistering company…”

“Yeah, I heard.” Clarke replied walking over to where Raven was.

“Er… hey, Clarke.” Lexa said, having not realised the other girl was there.

“Who are you?” Tris asked, looking up at Clarke.

“Tris, don’t be rude.” Lexa said, looking down at the girl.

“Sorry…” Tris said, looking from Lexa back to Clarke, “Who are you, please.”

“I’m Clarke,” the blonde said with a smile, “who are you?”

“Tris,” the girl replied with a nod, “you don’t work with Raven do you.”

“How can you tell?” Clarke asked.

“You’re too clean.” The girl said before running off towards Raven’s office, “Raven, can I get a lolly?”

Raven looked to Lexa who shook her head a little.

“Not today kid,” Raven called back before looking back to Lexa, “what did she do?”

“Suspended from school for fighting,” Lexa said, “she hit a kid in the face with a lunch tray for stealing her friends chocolate bar.”

Both Raven and Clarke started laughing.

“It’s not funny.” Lexa replied, fighting to keep the smile from her face.

“Maybe it’s all those blistering role models that she has,” Clarke said, “How many times have you hit someone in the face with a lunch tray, Lexa?”

“I have never hit anyone in the…” Lexa started to say, before stopping herself as Tris walked back over to them, “actually there was one time…”

Clarke couldn’t stop the laugh escaping her, and Lexa couldn’t stop the smile playing on her lips. Raven just looked down at Tris, who shrugged.

“Come on Lexxxaaaaaaa,” Tris said, grabbing Lexa’s hand, “we have to go get Anya.”

“Right,” Lexa said with a nod, looking at Raven, “is my car fixed?”

“Sure is, let me just go and grab the keys for you.” Raven replied as she walked towards the office, “Tris, you wanna give me a hand?”

“You’re going to get Anya?” Clarke asked as Tris ran after Raven.

“Yeah, your mom called Gustus earlier and said she could go home,” the other girl replied, “she heals pretty quickly.”

“So do you by the looks of things.” Clarke said, “listen, about last night…”

“What about it?” Lexa asked, leaning against the hood of her car.

“Maybe what I said was a bit harsh…” the blonde said, “about the hush money and stuff…”

“It was a gift,” Lexa said with a nod, “we don’t pay people to stay quiet, Clarke.”

“If I didn’t stay quiet, I’m guessing you’d be paying me a visit huh?” Clarke asked with a small smile.

“Nah,” Lexa said with a shrug, “I couldn’t bring myself to mess up that pretty face.”

Tris ran out of Raven’s office and back over to Lexa, Raven following on behind.

“I said no to the lolly Tris.” Lexa said, holding her hand out.

The young girl pouted and put her hand in her pocket, pulling out a lolly she handed it to Lexa.

“And the other one.” Lexa said, putting the lolly in her own pocket, before taking the other one, unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth.

Raven handed Lexa her keys and as Lexa walked over to unlock her car the other girl winked at Tris.

“You can keep the last one,” Lexa said, not turning back to look at them, “but you can’t eat it until after dinner.”

“How does she do that?” Raven asked Tris.

“Magic.” Tris said with a nod.

“Weren’t you heading to the clinic to see your mom, Clarke?” Raven asked Clarke, ignoring the look on Clarke’s face as she asked.

“I was thinking about it…” The blonde replied.

“Clarke can ride with us, right Lexa?” Tris said walking over to Lexa’s car.

“Sure,” Lexa said, turning to look back at Clarke, “I mean, if she wants to, there’s room in the car…”

“If you’re sure you don’t mind.” Clarke replied with a small smile.

“Wouldn’t have offered if I minded.” The brunette said.

“You didn’t offer,” Tris said, “I did. SHOTGUN.”

“You’re in the back squirt.” Lexa said, pulling the drivers seat forward and motioning for Tris to get in the back.

“But I called shotgun, that’s how it works,” Tris pouted, “I called shotgun so Clarke has to sit in the back.”

“You still want to keep that lolly for after dinner?” Lexa asked, her eyebrow arched a little.

“I’ll sit in the back.” Tris said, dragging her feet dramatically as she walked round to the drivers side of the car.

As Lexa put the seat back she looked over to Raven.

“Did Gustus cover the work?” she asked.

“Sure did,” Raven said with a nod, “had it cleaned too. You really need to stop treating it like a joyride car.”

“I’ll think about it.” Lexa replied before getting in the car.

“See you at home Raven.” Clarke said, climbing into the passenger side of the car.

Raven waved a little as Lexa’s car pulled away.

“So screwed…” Raven said to herself with a laugh as she went back to work.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Do you work in the clinic?” Tris asked Clarke as they drove.

“I do.” Clarke said with a nod.

“So are you a doctor, or a nurse?” she asked, “do you fix people or watch other people fix people?”

“I fix people,” Clarke said with a laugh, “though I sometimes watch people fix people too.”

“Just to make sure they’re fixing them right?” the young girl asked, leaning between the two front seats.

“Sit back and put your belt on,” Lexa said, using one hand to push Tris’s head back, “or Clarke will be fixing you, and Raven will be fixing my windscreen.”

Tris grumbled as she sat back in the seat and put the seatbelt on.

“I think I’d like to fix people when I’m bigger,” Tris said, “is it hard?”

“It can be,” Clarke said with a nod, turning in her seat a little so she could look at the younger girl, “depends how broken they are.”

“Lexa’s broken, you could fix her.” Tris said, looking out of the window.

Lexa looked in the rear-view mirror and shook her head a little, before glancing over at Clarke.

“Wrong kind of broken, kid.” Lexa said, looking back to the road.

“Yeah,” Tris said with a laugh, “you’re broken in the head.”

“You’ll be broken in the head if you don’t behave.” Lexa replied with a smirk.

“Uncle Gustus wouldn’t let you do that.” Tris said, poking her tongue out at Lexa as the older girl looked at her in the rear-view.

Clarke laughed a little at the interaction, she didn’t expect Lexa to have that side of her, the more relaxed side. It was certainly something that was new to her.

“To be a doctor you have to finish school Tris,” Lexa said, “then go to college, it’s a lot of work.”

“School, then more school?” Tris asked.

“Lots more school,” Lexa said, glancing over at Clarke, “right, blondie?”

“Yeah,” Clarke replied with a laugh, “a lot more school.”

“Maybe I don’t want to fix people anymore.” Tris said with a huff.

“You don’t like school?” Clarke asked, turning in her seat again.

“I don’t like the people at school.” Tris said with a shrug, “they’re rude.”

“Is that why you get in fights?” Clarke asked.

“I guess…” Tris replied.

“I used to get in fights when I was a kid,” Clarke said, “people used to bully my friends and I didn’t like that…”

Lexa glanced over at Clarke again, not being able to picture her getting into fights.

“So what did you do?” Tris asked, listening intently to the blonde.

“I realised that they weren’t worth it,” Clarke said with a smile, “bullies only pick on people because they’re sad. They like to make other people feel sad so it makes them feel better. You just need to make them see that they can’t make you sad, fighting them isn’t good. If you get kicked out of school, you won’t get to see your friends, then you’ll be sad, right?”

“Would that mean I get to hang out with Lexa all the time?” Tris asked.

“Not likely kid,” Lexa said, “I only hang out with cool people who finish school.”

Tris sighed and sat back in her seat.

“No more fighting…” Tris said quietly.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sitting in the lounge at Gustus and Indra’s house, Tris was sitting cross legged on the floor scribbling in a colouring book, and Anya was watching some rubbish television show while laid out on the sofa.

“Lex…” Anya said, causing the other girl to look up from her book, “you know why the squirt wants to be a doctor when she grows up?”

“No idea,” Lexa replied with a little smile, looking back down at her book, “but that’s not a bad thing is it?”

“Lexa’s got a friend who fixes people,” Tris said, her head buried in her colouring book, “better to fix people than break them…”

“Lexa’s got a friend?” Anya asked, looking at Lexa.

“Out of that whole thing, that’s what you take from it?” Lexa asked, throwing a cushion at Anya, “you’re an ass.”

“Tell me about Lexa’s friend, Tris,” Anya said, sticking the cushion behind her head, “what’s she like? I assume it’s a girl…”

“Clarke,” Tris said with a nod, sticking her tongue out as she coloured a little more, “she’s pretty. She has blue eyes. Yellow hair…”

“Blonde…” Lexa corrected.

“Mrs G’s kid?” Anya asked, looking at Lexa, who refused to meet her eyes, “oh wow, don’t even…”

“Shut up…” Lexa replied.

“You know she lives with Octavia Blake, right, you know, Detective Bellamy Blake’s little sister…” Anya said.

“And Raven.” Lexa said, “yes, I know. You do not have to tell me how ridiculous it is.”

“How is Raven?” Anya asked.

“She seems okay,” Lexa replied with a small nod, “I still think what we’re doing is fu… messed up though.”

“She’s a good mechanic,” the older girl said, “she does a good job on the cars, probably the best mechanic in the city.”

“Yeah, but that isn’t why Gustus’s uses her though and you know it.” Lexa said with a sigh, “it’s messed up, and when she finds out…”

“If…” Anya said.

“No, when,” Lexa replied, putting her book down on the table, “when she finds out, she’s going to flip her sh… she isn’t going to be happy.”

Tris started giggling.

“What’s funny?” Lexa asked.

“You trying not to curse.” Tris replied, still giggling to herself.

“It’s messed up Anya, and you know it.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little.

“What do you suggest?” Anya asked, “We just show up one day and say ‘oh hey, you know you have no idea who your dad was, well we do’? Way to screw with a girls head there, Lex.”

“She has a right to know.” Lexa said.

“Would you want to know, if it were you?” the older girl asked, “Think about it seriously… and tell me more about this Clarke…”

“There’s nothing to tell,” Lexa said with a shrug, sitting back in the seat and resting her feet on the table, “she was working the night I dislocated my shoulder.”

“You bonded over the pain?” Anya asked with a laugh.

“She saved your life.” Lexa replied, looking at the other girl.

“So you bonded over my pain,” Anya said with a shrug, “should probably thank her for that though, the saving my life thing.”

“Anyone else would’ve freaked, I was kind of expecting her to if I’m honest,” Lexa said with a small laugh, resting her head back on the chair, “don’t think she’s ever operated on someone on an office table before…”

“It was that bad?” Anya asked, her voice dropping a little.

“It was that bad…” Lexa replied with a nod, “I was so sure I was going to lose you…”

“What happened?” Tris asked, no longer colouring in her book, but looking between Anya and Lexa.

“I got into a fight with a bad man…” Anya said.

“What happened to the bad man?” Tris asked.

Anya looked at Lexa, who was currently lost in her thoughts.

“I think that’s a story for another day kid.” Anya said with a little smile.

“The bad man wasn’t as bad as he thought he was,” Lexa said, standing up, “and he should’ve run like the rest of his friends…”

The door to the lounge opened and Tris got up and ran to the person who walked in.

“Lincoln!” she said as he picked her up and span her around.

“Hey monkey.” He replied, kissing her on the head, “what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“Suspended for fighting.” Lexa said, not turning around from where she was standing looking out of the window.

“Luna’s going to love that…” Lincoln said, putting Tris down and walking over to one of the other chairs.

“Lexa was just telling me about the bad man who Anya was fighting with.” Tris said, jumping onto his knee.

“And you wonder why she gets suspended for fighting.” Lincoln said, looking at Lexa.

“Well this isn’t exactly a child friendly environment is it.” Lexa replied, turning around to look at him.

“I want to be a doctor.” Tris said to Lincoln, changing the subject completely.

“Oh yeah?” Lincoln asked, “I think you’d be a great doctor.”

“Lexa’s friend Clarke is a doctor.” Anya said with a smirk.

“Lexa has a friend?” Lincoln asked.

“I hate you both.” Lexa grumbled.

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and stuff, means a lot to know that so many people are enjoying reading it. It makes it a lot easier to write, so seriously, thank you. In this part we find out a little more about Raven and her history, and Clarke and Lexa get closer. Hope you enjoy it.

 

After dinner the previous evening, Lexa had suggested to Gustus that it might be time for Raven to know the truth. Gustus had been talking about making Raven’s position as the family’s mechanic a little more official, and Lexa believed that she needed to know the truth first. She hadn’t wanted to go along with the whole cover-up anyway, but she was in no position to argue. As much as Gustus respected her input on things, and her ideas, he was also pretty quick to remind her of her place at times. Especially when it came to the history of the family and opening more people up to that.

Now she found herself back at Gustus and Indra’s house, the place she had grown up, the majority of her childhood memories had been made within those walls. For a long time, every effort had been made to shield her, and Anya and Lincoln, from the business which was conducted there. Lexa herself only finding out what the family business really was when she walked into a room one day to find her uncle holding a gun to someone’s head. From that moment on Lexa knew never to just walk into a room when the door was closed.

“You still sure this is a good idea?” Lincoln asked as he walked over to where Lexa was standing near the window, “I mean it’s really going to screw with her head.”

“She deserves to know,” Lexa replied with a nod, “can you imagine growing up not knowing who your father was, every time you ask questions you get shut down, so you just stop asking after a while…”

“Don’t you think your life would have been easier if you never found out how your parents died?” Lincoln asked with a sigh, “Wouldn’t it have been easier for you to just keep thinking it had been a car accident?”

“No,” Lexa said shaking her head, “I needed to know. It really opened my eyes to the world around me, I spent 6 years after my parents died thinking it was a simple car accident… but nothing around here is ever that simple, is it…”

Lexa had found out, when she was 14, that her parents had been killed by members of the Azgeda. They had been driving home after a meeting with Gustus when a car containing Azgeda had driven alongside them and opened fire. Causing her father to drive onto the other side of the road into the path on an oncoming truck.

“Do you ever think about how different your life might be if you didn’t know?” Lincoln asked.

“I don’t think any of us were ever supposed to have a life different to this one, do you?” Lexa said with a small laugh, “imagine Gustus’s face if we all said we wanted to be lawyers or police officers.”

“Anya wanted to be a police officer when she was a kid…” Lincoln replied, “that idea didn’t last long though.”

Gustus walked up behind them.

“Raven is here,” he said, “Lexa, can you show her to my office?”

“Sure.” Lexa said with a nod.

“This was your idea after all…” he replied, walking back down the hallway.

“Great,” Lexa said with a sigh, “this all goes to hell and it’ll be my fault.”

The doorbell ringing interrupted whatever Lincoln was going to say. Lexa just shook her head and walked downstairs to answer the door. It was, of course, Raven.

“Gustus asked me to come…” Raven said as Lexa answered the door, “Not sure what it’s about though… Wasn’t sure whether or not to tell Clarke and O to send a search party if I’m not home later.”

“You’ll be fine,” Lexa said with a laugh, “come on in.”

Raven walked into the house and couldn’t stop herself looking around, it was huge. Lexa closing the front door made her jump a little.

“If this is about the scratch on the Cadillac, it wasn’t my fault…” Raven said.

“You scratched the Cadillac?” Lexa asked, her eyes widening a little, “You know that’s his favourite car, right?”

“Like I said, wasn’t my fault,” Raven rambled, failing to see the smirk on Lexa’s face, “I can fix it, I mean…”

“I’m messing with you Raven,” Lexa said with a laugh, “he probably hasn’t even noticed.”

“I hate you.” Raven replied.

“Join the club,” Lexa said, “come on, this way.”

Lexa lead them down the corridor to Gustus’s office. As they were walking, Raven couldn’t stop looking around.

“You guys grew up here?” she asked as she was looking around.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied, “Gustus and Indra moved here just before they took me in.”

“You could put my mom’s place down in here and lose it,” Raven replied, “this place is huge.”

Lexa opened the wood panelled door and waited for Raven to enter first, noticing the other girl looked a little nervous Lexa shook her head a little.

“You’ve really got nothing to worry about Raven,” she said, “nothing bad has ever happened to anyone in this office…”

She saw the girl noticeably relax a little.

“Blood is a bitch to get off hardwood floors.” Lexa added, laughing as Raven’s face dropped.

Raven shook her head as Lexa laughed.

“Guess I asked for that one huh…” she said, walking over to the wall and looking at the photographs.

“Little bit.” Lexa replied with a nod, leaning against the wall near the door.

Lexa stood and watched as Raven’s eyes took in the photographs which hung on the wall. They were pictures of the family, friends of Gustus and Indra’s, mixed with pictures of Anya, Lincoln and Lexa when they were kids. Lexa knew there was at least one picture among them that had Raven’s mom in it. Raven’s eyes strayed to the picture in question, which was sitting on the long wooden unit which ran under the framed pictures on the wall. She picked it up, looking at it as she turned to face Lexa.

“Why does Gustus have pictures of my mom?” she asked.

“That is something that he should explain…” Lexa replied.

“The guy in this picture,” Raven said, turning it so Lexa could see it, even though Lexa already knew which one she was talking about, “the one with his arm around my mom, who is he?”

“Raven…” Lexa started to say.

“Who is he?” Raven asked again, walking closer to Lexa.

“His name was Louis,” Lexa said with a sigh, “Cuban or Colombian, I believe, he was a friend of Gustus’s…”

“And what connection does he have to my mom?” the other girl asked, stepping back a little as Lexa pushed herself away from the wall.

“I can’t answer that.” She said.

“Can’t or won’t?” Raven asked.

“It’s not my place to say,” Lexa replied, “I’m sorry, Raven, but you’re going to have to ask Gustus about that.”

At that moment Gustus walked into the room, Lexa looked at him before turning to leave.

“I would like it if you would stay, Alexandria.” He said as he walked over to his desk.

Lexa clenched her jaw as she took a deep breath before nodding a little. She knew that he wasn’t too happy with her, as he had used her whole first name, she also knew that she had no choice but to stay so she moved back over to the wall where she had been standing before.

“Raven,” Gustus said with a small smile, motioning to the other chair at his desk, “please, sit.”

Raven walked over to the chair and sat down, looking over at Lexa before she looked at Gustus.

“You’re probably wondering why I asked you here,” he said, Raven nodded but didn’t say anything, “well, at dinner yesterday evening we discussed making your position a little more official.”

“My position?” Raven asked.

“As our mechanic.” Gustus replied, “you have been working on our cars, trucks and Alexandria’s bike, for the last 6 months, in an unofficial capacity, we’d like it if you would agree to work for us full time.”

“So you want me to officially work for you?” Raven asked, swallowing the lump that was in her throat.

“Yes,” he said, “we would of course give your garage a full refit, everything would be state of the art. It would also give you more time to work on custom vehicles, which I believe is something of a passion of yours.”

“That’s a lot to ask,” Raven replied, glancing back at Lexa, “you’re basically asking me to close my business to anyone else who needs their car fixing. That business is all I have…”

“That isn’t what I’m asking,” Gustus said, “you can still keep your business, of course you would have to consider who your customers would be…”

“One more thing…” Raven said, interrupting him, which caused Lexa to pinch the bridge of her nose as she shook her head a little, “if I am going to consider your offer, which is a good offer, I mean, a full garage refit does sound nice… I need to know who this man is in the picture with my mom… and why you have photographs of my mom at all.”

Raven pushed the picture frame across the desk towards Gustus.

“I asked Lexa,” Raven said, “but she wouldn’t tell me, so I’m asking you.”

“Alexandria wouldn’t tell you, because I told her not to,” Gustus said to Raven, “the man in this photograph with your mother was a very dear friend of mine, my business partner if you will. His name was Louis Capriento, he was born in Puerto Rico but moved to Colombia when he was a teenager. In his early twenties he started a very successful… import export business with his older brother. He and your mother were… very close for many years.”

“Very close?” Raven asked, not really wanting to know what that meant.

“He was your father, Raven.” Gustus replied.

Lexa was looking down at the floor as Raven’s head snapped round and she looked at her.

“You knew?” Raven said to her.

“It wasn’t my place…” Lexa replied, still not looking at her.

“She wanted to tell you, Raven,” Gustus said, “but I decided that it would be better to wait for a more convenient time. Your mother also asked us not to tell you, she believed that it would be better if you didn’t know. She believed it would cause too much upset in your life.”

“My college education…” Raven said, her jaw clenched as she looked at Gustus, “you paid for that?”

“Technically…” he replied, “yes. Though it was paid for using money which technically belonged to your father.”

“The reason my mom never worked a day in her life, yet didn’t seem to really struggle for money…” Raven said, shaking her head, “that was down to… him?”

“Yes.” Gustus said with a nod.

“I can’t believe this…” Raven said, moving the chair back as she stood up.

“Raven…” Gustus said as she walked towards the door.

“I am so done with this bullshit.” Raven said as she opened the door and left the room.

As the door shut behind her, Lexa pushed herself away from the wall.

“Would you say that was a success?” Gustus asked her as he stood up.

“I’d say it went as well as could be expected,” Lexa replied as she looked at him, “what did you expect to happen? You think that you tell her that her father was some big drug dealer in Colombia and she’s going to be okay with that? Telling her that everything that she thought to be true in her life was a lie, you figured that she’d just accept it?”

“What happens now?” He asked, turning to look out of the office window.

“Now you give her time to come to terms with what you’ve just told her,” Lexa said, “maybe she’ll come round, maybe she won’t. But at least she knows the truth.”

“And if it gets out,” he said, turning to face her again, “what happens then?”

“Then I’ll deal with it,” Lexa replied as she walked to the door, “just like I always do.”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was sitting on the sofa when Raven returned home. She jumped as the door slammed shut behind the other girl, Octavia came out of her room when she heard the noise.

“Bad day?” Clarke asked as Raven walked through the living room area and into the kitchen.

“Who the fuck do they think they are?” Raven asked, grabbing a glass from the cupboard and getting herself a drink of water, “I mean, they tell you that everything you’ve ever known was a whole load of bullshit, and expect that you’ll still work for them. Fuck that shit.”

“Okay, slow down,” Clarke said, turning the television off as Raven walked over and sat down on the sofa, Octavia following her, “start from the beginning.”

“Right,” Raven said with a sigh, “so, you know this morning, I got a call from Gustus, asking me to go to his place…”

“Yeah, you thought it had something to do with that car you scratched,” Octavia said, “isn’t it a bit cliché for a gangster to drive a Cadillac anyway, I mean everyone knows that’s what they drive.”

“Didn’t Elvis drive a Cadillac?” Clarke asked, looking between Raven and Octavia.

“He did,” Raven said with a nod, “but that’s totally off topic. So I went over there, it’s this huge mansion thing on the outskirts of the city, with this huge wall and massive gates. Lexa takes me to this office, there’s all these pictures on the walls. Them as kids, and Gustus and Indra with all these big mafia types… and a couple of pictures of my mom…”

“Why…” Clarke starts to say.

“I know right,” Raven said, interrupting her, “I ask Lexa, who of course doesn’t tell me. Spouts off this bullshit about how it’s not her place to tell me… you remember how I’ve never known who my dad was, and my mom would never tell me. Well they knew. Apparently my dad was this Puerto Rican guy that worked with Gustus… big in the import export business in Colombia or something…”

“Your dad was a drug dealer?” Octavia asked.

“I’m guessing so, I mean I didn’t hang around to ask, but I doubt he worked in the import and export of furniture or something…” Raven replied with a shrug.

“There are other things that come out of Colombia, other than drugs I mean…” Clarke said, “maybe he sold cars or… something…”

“Not likely,” Raven said, “But thanks for trying to help…”

“So what happens now?” Octavia asked, “you just keep going about your life as if it didn’t happen?”

“I don’t know if I can,” Raven replied with a shrug, “You know Gustus paid for my college education, well technically my dad did, but obviously he didn’t… that’s probably why they bring their cars to my garage, I mean, might as well keep it in the family right…”

“So stop fixing their cars,” Clarke said, “refuse. Saying that though they probably bring their cars to you cause you’re a damn good mechanic, it probably has nothing to do with who your dad was. You don’t have to take their business, Raven, you can get by without it…”

“That’s another reason he asked me over there,” the other girl said, “to make my position more official. Offered to have my garage fully refitted, state of the art shit…”

“Is that what you want?” Clarke asked, looking at her friend.

“I don’t know…” Raven replied with a sigh, “I don’t know what I want right now…”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was at the reception area of the clinic when the door opened, she didn’t really pay much attention until whoever it was who just walked in walked over to her. Looking up from the chart she saw Lexa standing in front of her.

“Bad night at work again?” Clarke asked, putting the chart down on the desk.

“No,” Lexa replied shaking her head, “I just…”

“You just what, Lexa?” Clarke asked.

“I was just wondering how Raven was doing.” Lexa said, getting the feeling that this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

“Other than questioning every little thing in her life, she’s doing fine.” Clarke replied, picking up another chart from the desk.

“So she told you…” Lexa said with a nod.

“Told us that you knew who her father was and didn’t tell her?” Clarke asked, “No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, Clarke,” Lexa said with a sigh, “you know that wasn’t my choice.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” the blonde said, “nothing is ever your choice is it.”

“You know nothing about me, Clarke.” Lexa snapped, “nothing about my life.”

“Is there anything else that you’re keeping from her?” Clarke asked, angry because Raven was her best friend and her life had just been turned upside down.

“No,” Lexa said, “if it wasn’t for me then Gustus wouldn’t have told her what he did today. She needed to know, I know what it’s like not knowing.”

“Right,” Clarke said with a bitter laugh, “because you know what it’s like not knowing who your father really was. If you’ll excuse me, we’re busy, I need to get back to work.”

Clarke started to walk away from Lexa, leaving her at the reception desk. Lexa looked over to the waiting area to find that it was pretty much empty. She shook her head a little.

“They told me that my parents died in a car accident,” Lexa called after Clarke, causing her to stop in her tracks, “wasn’t until I was 14 that I found out it was a drive by shooting which caused my father to crash the car into an oncoming truck.”

Clarke turned around and looked at Lexa.

“So yeah,” Lexa said with a nod, “I know nothing about having the truth kept from me.”

“Lexa…” Clarke said, slowly walking back over to her.

“You may think you know who I am, Clarke,” Lexa said, “but you have no idea…”

With that Lexa turned and walked out of the clinic.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Instead of going home when her shift ended, Clarke decided to go for a walk, she needed to clear her head. She needed to get those green eyes out of her head. She was angry at Lexa, for something that wasn’t really Lexa’s fault. Sure the other girl had known the truth about Raven’s father, and hadn’t told her, but that wasn’t really her fault. Lexa had been right when she told Clarke that she had no idea who she was.

The blonde had seen a few different sides of Lexa in the time that she had known her. She’d seen the darker side of the girl, when they had been in the office after Anya had been hurt. She had seen the results of Lexa’s life when she had seen her that morning with blood on her face from the fight. Then she had seen the softer side of Lexa when she had been around Tris, the more relaxed side. Clarke had no idea who Lexa really was, but she knew deep down that she wanted to find out.

She wanted to know the little things, and the big things. She wanted to know what made Lexa laugh, what made her smile. She wanted to know about her childhood and her family, the good parts and the bad. Clarke had no idea what it was about this girl, she’d known her a matter of days, yet everything in her life seemed to be pointing in Lexa’s direction. She didn’t know if it was just what Octavia had said, getting under someone to get over someone else, she didn’t know if she wanted Lexa to be her rebound or something a lot more than that. Maybe she just wanted to help her, make her see that she could be so much more than what she restricted herself to being.

Clarke had no idea where she was heading, she was just walking aimlessly though the city. She pulled her jacket tighter around her as she was hit by the cool breeze from the river. It didn’t surprise her that she had ended up here, she used to go there a lot when she was in High School. She and her dad used to sit on one of the benches near the river and eat hotdogs and talk endlessly about anything and everything. To many people the river was a place of loneliness, to Clarke it had always been a thing of comfort. On the warm days her and her dad would sit with their feet in the water, and her dad would tell her that you could never put your feet in the same part of the river twice, because it was always flowing, always changing.

She had expected to be alone by the rivers edge, because who in their right mind would be sitting near the river at that time in the morning. But as she walked, she saw that she wasn’t alone. Near one of the benches she saw a motorbike. As she walked closer she could see the person sitting on the back of the bench, their feet on the seating part. She recognised the leather jacket, the intricate braids that she could make out in the fading moonlight.

Instead of walking past the bench, as she knew that she should, Clarke found herself walking closer to the bench. Closer to Lexa.

“Is this seat taken?” she asked quietly as she got close enough for Lexa to hear her.

The brunette turned and looked at her, before looking back out over the river, continuing to throw the small stones she held in her hand.

“Me and my dad used to come down here all the time,” Clarke said with a small smile as she sat on the bench, “sometimes when my mom was at work in the early hours of the morning, and I couldn’t sleep, he’d bring me here and we’d just talk about things. Whatever it was that was keeping me awake, what was going on at school… boring stuff to think about now, but then it all seemed so important…”

“What happened to him?” Lexa asked quietly.

“He was killed in some freak accident at work,” Clarke replied, “it was a few years ago now, when I was still in med school. I don’t know exactly what happened, and I don’t think I want to. My mom told me that it was quick, and he wouldn’t have suffered… I think that was enough for me. I came back for the funeral but left again the next day. I couldn’t stay here without him. My mom was going straight back to work the day after the funeral, so that would’ve left me at the house on my own. It just seemed so empty without him. Plus the guy I was with had classes the next day, so I would’ve been by myself.”

“You still with him?” the brunette asked, glancing over at Clarke.

“No,” the blonde replied with a small laugh, “though he is actually the reason I came back here again… I got back home early from a shift at the hospital to find him in bed with someone else. I had a feeling that something was going on, but feeling it and knowing it are two different things, you know…”

“So he was cheating on you,” Lexa said, “then he’s an idiot…”

“I was hardly ever home,” Clarke replied with a shrug, “Always working, pulling 15 hours shifts. When I did get home I was always tired. He knew that was what it would be like, told me so many times that he was okay with it. I wanted to be a doctor, and he loved me, so it’d be okay. But it wasn’t…”

“You’re talking like it was your fault,” Lexa said, dropping down from the back on the bench to sit next to Clarke, “like you deserved it.”

“Maybe I did…” Clarke said.

“Like hell you did,” Lexa replied, causing Clarke to look over at her, “seriously, the guy’s an idiot. So you were working a lot, so what, since when does that mean it’s okay to invite someone else into the bed he shared with you. I bet he was more than happy to spend the money you were bringing in from the shifts you were pulling, what a dick.”

Clarke couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her.

“Guys like that are so stupid,” Lexa continued, “they have this beautiful girl, and they fuck it up cause they can’t keep it in their pants…What? You’re looking at me like I just answered the biggest question in the universe or something…”

“Nothing…” Clarke said with a smile, shaking her head a little.

“When was the last time someone told you that you’re beautiful, Clarke?” Lexa asked, bringing her leg up onto the bench as she turned to look at the blonde.

“It’s been a while.” Clarke replied, rolling her eyes a little.

“It shouldn’t have been a while,” the brunette continued, “you were in this relationship with the idiot, he should’ve told you every day…”

“Have you been drinking?” Clarke asked, narrowing her eyes a little.

“No,” Lexa said with a laugh, “I have this inability to lie, or to not make myself sound like a complete idiot apparently…”

Lexa’s phone beeped, letting her know she had a text message. She shook her head a little as she got her phone out of her jacket pocket. Reading the message she rolled her eyes a little.

“Something wrong?” Clarke asked.

“It’s kicking off at Luna’s Bar,” Lexa said, putting her phone back in her pocket, before she stood up, “I’ve got to go…”

Clarke sighed a little as she watched Lexa walk back to her bike and climb on, holding the helmet in her hands she looked back at Clarke.

“I meant what I said though,” Lexa said with a small smile, “he should’ve told you every day.”

The blonde laughed a little as Lexa put her helmet on and drove off into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter part than most, and it is a little heavy. Not sure I like it very much, but decided to post it anyway. It picks up from where the last part left off. Hope you enjoy reading it. All comments are more than welcome.

 

When Lexa pulled her bike to a stop across the street from Luna’s Bar she couldn’t fight the uncomfortable feeling she had in her stomach, it was too quiet. The text she had got from Luna said that there was trouble, but as she got off her bike she didn’t hear anything coming from the bar. She couldn’t have missed it, she hadn’t taken that long to get from the river to the bar. All her instincts were telling her to get back on her bike and ride away, but she knew that she would never be able to live with herself if anything happened to Luna. She was more than just an ex-member of the gang, though there really was no such thing as an ex-gang member. She was family. She’d never be able to look at Tris again if she rode away while Luna was in trouble.

Rolling her neck, she checked the inside pocket of her leather jacket, there she found the comfortable weight of her weapon of choice. A pair of brass knuckle dusters. She’d never been one for guns or knives, always finding the up close and personal approach suited her better. Crossing the street she could see that it was empty. It was almost 4:30 in the morning, most of the city was still asleep.

She slowly opened the door to the bar, not wanting anyone to jump on her before she got inside. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could see Luna. The older woman was standing at the bar, one hand resting on the bar top, the other holding her side. In the dim light Lexa could see she had been in a fight.

Luna brought the hand she had on the bar up to her face, Lexa watched as she wiped the blood from her lip, and indicated that there were 5 others in the bar. It was a subtle action, anyone watching her who didn’t know any better wouldn’t have picked it up. Lexa did. She nodded a little, before looking into the mirrored wall behind the bar, she could make out 3 people behind an overturned table.

Lexa walked into the bar, grabbing a pool cue as she passed the table. As soon as the door closed behind her the lights came on in the bar. The sudden change in light caused her to close her eyes momentarily. In the split second she had her eyes closed her heard the table being pushed over. When her eyes readjusted to the light she saw 4 people walking towards her.

“Oh this is hardly fair…” Lexa said with a smirk, snapping the pool cue over her leg.

“This is payback.” One of the guys walking towards her said, “you and your people put Justin in the hospital…”

“Justin…” Lexa said, tilting her head slightly as she narrowed her eyes, “Justin… which one was he again? Is he the one that screamed like a little bitch when I punched him in the face?”

That caused the guy to rush at her, Lexa easily ducked under the arm that was heading towards her face, coming up behind him she pushed her foot into his back causing him to stumble towards the rest of the group.

“Whoops, you missed me.” Lexa said before turning to Luna briefly, “get out of here.”

“Lexa…” Luna said.

“Go,” she replied, “this isn’t your fight.”

As Luna made her way from behind the bar to the door which lead to the alleyway, she hit the lights again, turning them all off, plunging the bar into semi-darkness again. With her eyes closed Lexa heard someone moving to her right, bringing her elbow up she connected with something hard. She was pretty sure she’d just evened her odds a little as she heard a table break. Before she had time to focus again she something hit her in the ribs, winding her briefly. As she tried to catch her breath one of the guys punched her in the face causing her to stagger back towards the bar.

“Wow you punch like a girl.” Lexa said as she pushed herself off the bar, bringing her right arm around, catching the guy in the side of the head with half of the pool cue.

He stumbled backwards into another of the Azgeda members. As Lexa looked around she saw light glinting off something that one of the gang members held in his hand. Her brain automatically told her it was a blade. The guy in question stepped towards her, Lexa brought her arm up to block the blade that was being directed to her face. She felt the blade cut through her jacket and into the skin of her arm. She continued the movement with her arm, grabbing the guys wrist and twisting his arm up back against itself, he dropped the blade pretty quickly and Lexa kicked it across the bar with her foot, before she felt a foot connect with her stomach.

Dropping to the floor she pulled her hands over her head and her knees up to her stomach. The three remaining Azgeda members stood over her, kicking at her back and her head. She was thankful, at that moment, that none of the others had decided to bring along some kind of weapon, which told her that it was a spur of the moment thing. As the pounding in her ears got louder she heard the door to the bar open and someone yell that the cops were on their way. It didn’t take long for the bar to empty.

Lexa rolled onto her back, groaning at the pain she now felt. As she moved she could tell that she had a few broken ribs, she had tenderness on her head, she lifted her hand to the back of her head, pulling it away to find blood. She knew there was no way that she could get out of the bar before the police turned up, so as her vision started to blur she just decided to lay there and hope for the best.

She heard someone enter the bar, forcing her eyes open she tried to focus on who it was. She couldn’t see their face in the darkness, nor could she tell if it was only one person.

“Lexa…” she heard a man say.

“Bellamy?” Lexa asked, recognising the voice as he crouched down next to her, “what the fuck…”

“Lets get you out of here.” He said, helping her sit up, “the cops are on their way.”

“Aren’t they already here?” Lexa asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him.

“I’m off-duty.” He replied, putting his arm around her waist as he helped her to stand.

As she struggled to stand up, she put her arm across Bellamy’s shoulders, feeling in that moment that more than her couple of her ribs were broken.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking at Bellamy.

“Clarke called me,” he explained as he helped her to the door, “said there was something going on here and she was worried about you…”

Lexa laughed a little, coughing as she did so, which caused her to cough up some blood.

“That’s not good…” she said, spitting out the blood.

“No,” Bellamy replied, “my car’s out front.”

Bellamy helped Lexa from the bar and into the passenger seat of his car. She winced in pain as he fastened the seat belt around her before closing the door and rushing around to the drivers side.

As they pulled away from the bar they saw a flash of blue and red lights heading in the direction they had just driven from.

“They can have your badge for this,” Lexa said, looking over at Bellamy as she rested her head back against the seat, “you know that right…”

“I’d rather deal with a pissed off police chief all day long, than deal with an angry Clarke Griffin,” he said with a small laugh, “trust me, it’s the lesser of two evils. You want to tell me what happened?”

“Not really…” Lexa replied, turning her head again to look out of the window.

Bellamy nodded a little as he continued to drive.

“Shit… Luna,” Lexa mumbled as she reached into her pocket to get her phone, groaning as she did so.

Taking out her phone she blinked as she looked at her contacts, she couldn’t read them clearly.

“Need a hand?” Bellamy asked, pulling the car down a side street.

“I need to call Luna…” she said, handing her phone to Bellamy.

“I’ll just text her and tell her you’re okay,” he said, taking the phone, “the police will be there by now, a phone call from you isn’t going to go down well.”

Lexa nodded a little as Bellamy sent Luna a text before he handed her the phone back.

Bellamy started to drive again, Lexa let out a sigh and turned to look at him.

“It was a set up,” she said, causing him to glance over at her, “payback if you like… that Azgeda kid in the hospital…”

“And he’s in there because of what happened to your friend Anya, right?” Bellamy asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Yeah…” Lexa replied.

“This is a vicious circle,” he said, “one attack leads to another, which leads to another.”

He glanced over at Lexa, she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Hey,” he said, tapping her on the leg, “don’t go to sleep on me, pretty sure you’ve got a head injury, Clarke will kick my ass if you fall asleep.”

“Clarke couldn’t fight her way out of a wet paper bag…” Lexa said with a small laugh, causing her to cough again, “fuck…”

Bellamy laughed a little as he turned another corner, Lexa looked out of the window again, her brows furrowed in confusion.

“You’re going the wrong way,” she said, “the clinic is the other way.”

“We’re not going to the clinic.” He replied.

“So where are we going?” Lexa asked, looking over at him.

He just smiled a little as he continued driving. It wasn’t much longer before Bellamy pulled over in front of an apartment building that Lexa didn’t recognise. As he got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, she tried to get out of the car herself, but failed. Bellamy put his arm around her waist again and helped her up and towards the front door of the building.

They took the elevator to the top floor, it was only four floors but there was no way Lexa could take the stairs. Walking along the hallway Lexa tried to figure out where they were going, but she couldn’t as she struggled to keep one foot moving in front of the other.

“You know,” she said, “I think a hospital would’ve been a better choice…”

“We need to get you checked out by a doctor first,” Bellamy said with a little smile, “I thought hospitals asked too many questions.”

Lexa nodded a little as Bellamy stopped outside the last apartment on the landing. He knocked on the door softly and waited. It didn’t take long for the door to open. Lexa couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little as Clarke stood there.

“Shit…” Clarke said, stepping aside so Bellamy could help Lexa inside, “get her on the sofa…”

Bellamy helped Lexa to the sofa, sitting her down softly as Clarke walked up behind him. Crouching down in front of Lexa she smiled a little.

“Let me guess, I should see the other guy, right?” Clarke asked.

“The other 5…” Lexa replied, “but I think they’re doing better than I am…”

At that moment Raven’s bedroom door opened.

“What the hell is with all this noise Griffin, I don’t have to be up for another two hours,” Raven said exiting her room, stopping in her tracks when she saw Lexa, “I didn’t know we were picking up strays off the street.”

“Shut up and grab me the first aid kit from the bathroom…” Clarke said as she moved to get some ice from the kitchen.

Raven grumbled something which Lexa couldn’t make out, something about it being asshole time at the nuthouse, but Lexa was sure that couldn’t be it, before she walked to the bathroom coming back with a pretty big first aid kit. She handed it to Clarke before looking at Lexa again.

“You look like shit by the way.” Raven said, turning and walking back to her room, “try and keep the noise down.”

“Should I expect the same warm welcome from the younger Blake?” Lexa asked, looking over at Bellamy who was now sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen.

“Nah, that one could sleep through an earthquake.” He replied with a small smile.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

“You didn’t have to call Bellamy you know,” Lexa said quietly as Clarke cleaned up the blood on her face, “I had it covered.”

“Looks like it,” Clarke replied, not meeting Lexa’s eyes, “you’ve got 4 broken ribs, a cut on your arm, your head has only just stopped bleeding and you’ve probably got concussion, if that’s you having it covered I’d hate to see what happens when you don’t.”

Lexa smiled a little.

“And, if I hadn’t called Bellamy, then you’d probably be in a hospital right now handcuffed to a bed,” Clarke continued, “or worse, sitting in a police cell because they couldn’t be bothered to take you to hospital…”

Clarke’s rambling was stopped when Lexa softly put her fingers to the blonde’s lips.

“Thank you…” she said quietly.

Clarke nodded a little before she finished cleaning up Lexa’s face.

“Are you hungry?” Clarke asked as she took the used sterile pads through to the trash bin in the kitchen.

“No…” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, “I am however tired… so I’m going to call a cab or something…”

“I need you to stay here,” Clarke said, turning back to face her, “you took a pretty bad knock to the head, you shouldn’t sleep alone.”

“Is that your way of trying to get me into bed, Doctor Griffin?” Lexa asked with a small smirk.

“No,” Clarke replied with a laugh, “this is me being a medical professional.”

“Right…” Lexa said with a smile and a nod, “lead the way.”

Clarke helped Lexa stand up before she started to walk to the bedroom, realising Lexa wasn’t following her she stopped and looked back.

“Give me a minute…” Lexa said, shaking her head a little as she put her hand on the back of the chair to keep herself upright.

Clarke walked back over to where Lexa was standing and gently put her arm around the other girl’s waist, smiling a little as she felt Lexa’s arm around her shoulders. Slowly they walked to Clarke’s room, before the blonde sat Lexa on the edge of the bed. Lexa moved herself backwards, before laying down on the side of the bed closest to the wall.

Clarke climbed into bed next to Lexa, pulling the duvet up over them both.

“He really should’ve told you everyday you know…” Lexa mumbled as she fell asleep.

Clarke couldn’t keep the smile from her lips as she propped herself up on her elbow, softly brushing the hair from Lexa’s face.

“Good night Lexa…” she said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating yesterday, I had a migraine which sucked. Don't forget to let me know what you think of this part. Enjoy :)

 

When Clarke woke up it took her a few moments to remember what had happened in the early hours of the morning, but as she looked over at the left hand side of her bed she saw Lexa, still fast asleep. Clarke laid there for a few minutes, just watching the other girl sleep, she just looked so peaceful. If it wasn’t for the slowly healing cuts on her face, the bandage on her right arm, and the strapping around her ribs, Clarke could easily forget the life which Lexa lead.

A cupboard door slamming closed snapped Clarke out of her thoughts. Lexa stirred slightly at the noise, but didn’t wake, so the blonde quietly climbed out of bed and went to find out what was going on in the kitchen. She had expected it to be Raven, the girl had made her feelings about Lexa being there clear, but to Clarke’s surprise it was Octavia banging around.

“Do you want to keep the noise down?” Clarke asked as she walked through to the kitchen area.

“Why?” Octavia asked, folding her arms across her chest as she turned and looked at Clarke, “Raven’s at work, it’s only you and me here… oh no, wait…”

Octavia walked past Clarke and over to one of the chairs, Lexa’s leather jacket was over the back of the chair and the younger girl picked it up.

“Lexa’s here.” She said, holding the jacket up.

“Bell brought her here early this morning,” Clarke said with a sigh, “when I left work I ended up walking down by the river, Lexa was there. She got a text about trouble at Luna’s Bar…”

“So you called my brother,” Octavia replied, putting the jacket back over the chair, “who might I remind you is a cop, to go to Luna’s, and what? Break up some kind of gang fight and bring Lexa back here? He could lose his job, Clarke. Not to mention Raven hating that whole family right now, what were you thinking?”

“I didn’t ask him to break anything up,” the blonde said, “I told him that I was worried…”

“Knowing full well that he’d go there.” the younger girl said, “seriously, Clarke…”

Clarke’s room door opening stopped the conversation. Both Clarke and Octavia looked towards the room as Lexa walked out.

“Bathroom?” Lexa asked, clearly uncomfortable, as she ran her hand through her hair.

“Right there…” Clarke said with a small smile pointing to the room next to hers.

“Thanks…” the brunette replied with a smile of her own before she went to the bathroom.

“You’re playing with fire, Clarke…” Octavia said with a sigh as she looked at the blonde.

“I know…” Clarke replied.

“And you’re dragging us all with you.” The younger girl said.

“I know…” the blonde replied, “I just…”

“I get it, Clarke,” Octavia said, “I do. You want to help her, cause that’s what you do, you help people. That’s one of the things we all love about you, but with this… I just hope she’s not more trouble than she’s worth. And you need to talk to Raven.”

“You said she’d gone to work?” Clarke asked, as she went through to the kitchen to make coffee, “I thought with everything that happened yesterday…”

“You know Raven,” Octavia said with a shrug, “she’s avoiding the issue. Pretending nothing happened. Work is all she has right now.”

“She’d do better at avoiding the issue if she didn’t go to work,” Clarke replied, “I mean, if they want to talk to her, they’ll go there first.”

“If they wanted to talk to her, they’d send Lexa,” Octavia said, “and she’s here… So, what happened last night, how did she end up in your bed?”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa stood in the bathroom, her hands gripping on the sides of the sink, as she looked in the mirror. She knew that her being at Clarke’s was going to cause issues with the blonde and her friends, which was certainly something that she didn’t want to do. A soft knock on the door snapped her from her thoughts.

“Yeah…” she said, walking over to the door.

“You okay?” Clarke asked through the closed door.

“Yeah…” Lexa replied, leaning against the wall.

“You want something to eat?” the blonde asked, “I’m making pancakes for me and O, you’re more than welcome to join us.”

Lexa didn’t answer right away, part of her was telling her she should just leave, it would be easier for everyone. The other part of her was telling her to stay.

“Lexa…?” Clarke said, the brunette hearing the concern in her voice.

Instead of answering, she opened the door.

“I should probably just leave…” Lexa said, consciously not making eye contact with Clarke, “wouldn’t want to cause any more issues than I already have.”

“Pancakes and coffee won’t change your mind huh…?” Clarke asked.

“Well you didn’t mention coffee.” Lexa replied with a laugh.

“Don’t worry about Octavia,” Clarke said with a smile, “her bark is worse than her bite…”

Lexa nodded a little.

“Don’t you have work soon?” The brunette asked, as she looked at Clarke.

“Not tonight.” Clarke replied, “I already called my mom and told her I wouldn’t be in. How do you take your coffee?”

“Black,” Lexa replied, “two sugars…”

“Sweet tooth huh?” Clarke asked as she turned and walked back towards the kitchen area.

“Two sugars is not sweet…” Lexa replied, following her, “it’s just the right amount.”

“Girl’s got a point,” Octavia said with a nod, not looking up from her phone, “unless you’re having cream in your coffee, then one is enough.”

“Has anyone heard from Bellamy today?” Lexa asked, looking between Clarke and Octavia.

“He called me earlier,” Octavia replied, finally looking at Lexa, “he said that nobody suspects that he was there, though they are curious about where you are. They arrested someone who said that you’d been there.”

Lexa nodded a little.

“But so far he’s clear.” The younger girl said, “you want to hope it stays that way.”

“You threatening me?” Lexa asked with a smirk as she looked at Octavia.

“Just saying it as it is.” Octavia replied.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lexa said with a small laugh.

“So what actually happened last night?” Clarke asked as she put a cup of coffee down in front of both girls.

“After I left you by the river, I rode up to Luna’s,” Lexa replied, “it was too quiet. The text said that it was kicking off, but it was like the bar wasn’t even open. When I went in Luna was behind the bar, the lights were all off. I could see three people behind an overturned table, there were two more that I couldn’t see… they said it was payback for one of theirs ending up in the hospital…”

“So it was five on one?” Octavia asked, looking between Lexa and Clarke.

“Yeah…” Lexa said, looking down at her hands, “I mean Luna was there, but there was no way I was dragging her into it, she has a kid, you know…”

“Tris…” Clarke said.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod, “she’s a good kid.”

“Suspended from school for hitting a kid in the face with a lunch tray.” Clarke said with a small laugh.

“She did what?” Octavia asked.

“One of the kids in her school has a brother who is Azgeda,” Lexa explained, “he took her friends chocolate bar, didn’t give it back when she asked, so she hit him in the face with her lunch tray.”

“Well we can all guess whose footsteps she’s going to follow in.” Octavia replied.

“Actually she wants to be a doctor.” Lexa said looking at Clarke with a small smile on her face, “I mean last week she wanted to be a dragon rider, so we’ll see how long that lasts.”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

When Raven got in from work she expected the apartment to be empty, Clarke and Octavia were both supposed to be at work, so she was surprised when she opened the door to find Clarke sitting on the sofa. From where she was standing she could see that there was someone else on the sofa with Clarke, it didn’t take much deduction to figure out that it was Lexa. She had her head on Clarke’s legs, with her feet resting on the far side of the sofa.

“Hey…” Clarke said quietly as Raven closed the door.

“She okay?” Raven asked, as she walked into the living room area and saw that Lexa was asleep.

“She will be.” Clarke replied with a small nod, “listen, Raven, about this morning…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Raven said, dropping herself down onto one of the chairs, “it’s fine… you two seem pretty close.”

“We were watching a movie and her head started hurting again, so I told her to lay down and it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.” Clarke said, looking down at Lexa.

“There’s a lot more to it than that though isn’t there,” Raven replied, “I’ve known you for… forever it seems like, this… whatever it is with Lexa, isn’t you…”

“She’s… different.” Clarke said.

“You’ve known the girl for about a week, Clarke,” Raven said, “is this like a rebound thing? I mean, I know Finn screwed you up, but…”

“I don’t know,” Clarke replied, her brow furrowed slightly, “I haven’t really thought about him in about a week…”

“You could’ve gone for someone who didn’t attract so much trouble, is all I’m saying,” Raven said, standing up before walking through to the kitchen area, “come on, the girl is like a trouble magnet.”

Clarke laughed, which caused Lexa to stir a little.

“Beer?” Raven asked, grabbing a bottle of beer from the fridge and holding it up.

“Sure.” Clarke replied with a smile.

“I’m going to shower then order take-out,” the other girl said, putting Clarke’s beer on the table, “you wanna ask gangster girl if she wants food?”

“So you’re okay with her being here?” Clarke asked as Raven walked towards her room.

“This is your home too Princess,” Raven replied, as she turned and looked at Clarke, “and I’ve always wanted a pet Rottweiler.”

“More like a German Shepard…” Lexa mumbled from Clarke’s legs, which caused the blonde to laugh.

“Right now you’re about as dangerous as a Pug,” Raven called, “so don’t push it.”

“Pugs are the ones who look like they’ve been hit in the face with a frying pan, right?” Lexa asked, lifting her head as she looked at Raven.

“Yep.” Raven said with a nod.

“They’re pretty cute.” Lexa said with a shrug.

Raven laughed as she walked into her room.

“Hey…” Lexa said with a small smile as she looked at Clarke.

“Hey,” Clarke replied, “Raven is ordering take-out when she’s finished in the shower, you hungry?”

“I should probably get going,” Lexa said as she sat up, “I text Anya earlier telling her I was okay, but I know that’s not going to be enough, and if Gustus sent anyone to my apartment and I’m not there…”

“Your phone beeped earlier,” Clarke said, “you were sleeping so I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Shit…” Lexa said, standing up from the sofa and walking into the kitchen where her phone was on charge.

She read the text, which was from Anya, basically saying that she needed to check in as soon as she could. Rolling her eyes a little she dialled Anya’s number.

“So you’re alive then…” Anya said as she answered.

“Yeah,” Lexa said, running her hand through her hair, “I probably should’ve called earlier, but…”

“Where are you Lex?” Anya asked, “Gustus called the clinic and they said you hadn’t been there, we called the hospital, they said you weren’t there, I called the station and Bellamy Blake wouldn’t tell me anything, other than that you’re safe.”

“I’m at… a friends…” Lexa replied as she looked up and saw Clarke looking at her.

“This friend wouldn’t happen to have blue eyes, blonde hair, and go by the name Clarke Griffin, would she?” Anya asked.

“Maybe…” Lexa said, “I’m leaving soon, I’m going to call a cab or something, I left my bike at Luna’s… is she okay?”

“Yeah,” Anya said with a sigh, “she’s here at the house with Tris. I’ll get someone to come and pick you up.”

“Only if that someone is Lincoln.” Lexa said, “don’t want anyone else knowing where Clarke lives, it’s not fair…”

“Okay,” Anya replied, “Lincoln it is, text me the address.”

“Will do.” Lexa said, as she hung up the phone.

After Lexa had text Anya Clarke’s address, she walked back through to the living room area.

“Lincoln is going to come and pick me up.” She said as she sat back down on the sofa.

“And Lincoln is…?” Clarke asked with a small smile.

“Indra’s son, from a previous relationship,” Lexa replied, “though he calls Gustus dad. He’s a year younger than Anya…”

“Anya’s not Indra’s daughter right?” Clarke asked.

“Not biologically, no,” Lexa said, “Anya’s mom died in childbirth, Indra’s the only mom she’s ever known.”

“And Gustus is your uncle.” The blonde said.

“Yep,” Lexa replied with a nod, “you got any brothers or sisters? Only seems fair I ask as you know who my family is.”

“It is fair,” Clarke said with a laugh, “and no, I’m an only child. My parents wanted another kid, but for some reason it didn’t happen.”

“Happens that way sometimes,” Lexa said with a smile, “this is going to sound like a stupid question, but is it okay if I get a quick shower when Raven’s finished? Tris is at the house and if I turn up looking like this…”

“Sure,” Clarke replied with a nod, “I’ll grab you some clothes you can borrow.”

“Thanks” Lexa said with a smile.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa had finished in the shower and was wearing a pair of Clarke’s sweatpants and a t-shirt as she sat in the living room with Raven.

“You given any more thought to Gustus’s offer?” Lexa asked, looking over at the other girl.

“You guys keeping anything else from me?” Raven asked, “whole other family I don’t know about?”

“No,” Lexa said shaking her head, “you were your father’s only child.”

“Did you ever meet him?” Raven asked as she looked at Lexa.

“Yeah,” the other girl said with a nod, “so did you… You were probably too young to remember it though, I think you were three when he died…”

Raven nodded a little as she looked back at the TV.

“How did he die?” she asked.

“Depends who you ask…” Lexa said with a shrug, “Gustus mentioned something about a drugs raid gone bad, the official police report said it was a gang dispute. I honestly don’t know which is right, wish I could tell you I did. It was a year and a half before I moved in with Gustus and Indra, I was about four I think.”

“So how do you know all this?” Raven asked, “if you were that young?”

“We have records,” Lexa replied, “Gustus keeps records of most things. When I was growing up I spent a lot of time reading them.”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it.” Clarke said, walking out of her room where she had been getting changed.

Clarke opened the door to find Tris standing there with a guy she didn’t know.

“Hey Clarke.” Tris said with a big grin, “we’re here for Lexa.”

“Come on in,” Clarke said to Tris, with a smile of her own, before she looked at Lincoln, “you must be Lincoln.”

“And you must be Lexa’s friend Clarke,” he said with a smile, “nice to meet you.”

“Told you she was pretty.” Tris said to Lincoln as she walked past Clarke and ran over to Lexa.

Lexa didn’t have time to stop Tris before she jumped on her, her knees catching Lexa in the ribs, causing the older girl to wince in pain.

“I’m sorry…” Tris said, realising that she’d hurt Lexa.

“It’s okay…” Lexa replied with a small smile, “don’t worry about it.”

“You okay?” Clarke asked.

Lexa nodded in reply as Lincoln walked behind the blonde.

“Luna was really worried about you, you know.” Lincoln said to Lexa.

“Didn’t she get the text?” Lexa asked as Tris started playing with her hair, which was currently out of its usual braids.

“She did,” Lincoln said with a nod, “but it didn’t really have that much info in it.”

“Oh, I wanted to say thank you.” Tris said to Lexa.

“For what, squirt?” Lexa asked.

“Helping my mom.” Tris replied, putting her arms around Lexa’s neck and hugging her.

“Anytime, kid…” Lexa said, holding the young girl close, as Clarke smiled a little.

“Okay,” Raven said, “this is cute and all, but Orphan Black is coming on in a minute…”

“That’s our cue to leave,” Lexa said with a laugh, “remember what I said, Raven…”

“I’ll think about it.” Raven said with a nod and a small smile.

“Good.” Lexa replied, lifting Tris up and putting her on the sofa next to her so she could stand up, she grabbed her leather jacket and looked at it, “well that’s trashed…”

The sleeve was cut and there was blood splattered over a lot of it.

“Are you pouting over a jacket?” Clarke asked with a smile on her face.

“It’s not just a jacket,” Lexa replied “it’s my favourite jacket… this sucks.”

“You might want to borrow a hoodie or something from Clarke,” Raven said, “don’t want the neighbours asking questions, I mean you still look like shit.”

“Thanks Raven.” Lexa said, looking over at her.

“Yeah, no problem.” Raven replied with a shrug.

“I’ll go and grab you a jacket.” Clarke said with a laugh.

As Clarke walked towards her room Lincoln looked at Lexa, she knew the look on his face well.

“Give me a minute…” Lexa said with a sigh as she followed Clarke to her room, “Clarke, I just wanted to say thanks…”

“It’s nothing.” Clarke replied with a small smile as she handed Lexa the hooded sweatshirt that went with the sweatpants.

“It’s not nothing though,” Lexa said, “you didn’t have to do any of this… and…”

“You don’t have to thank me, Lexa,” Clarke said, stepping closer to the other girl, “I’m just glad that Bellamy got to you in time…”

“I do have to thank you,” Lexa said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, “if it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be in jail right now.”

“And that would be bad.” Clarke said with a nod, as she stopped in front of Lexa.

“Really bad…” Lexa replied, her eyes flicking from Clarke’s eyes to her lips.

Clarke slowly started to close the distance between them, her hands slowly running up Lexa’s arms. Just before their lips met, Tris stuck her head around Clarke’s door.

“Can we go now?” she asked.

Lexa laughed as Clarke groaned a little and put her head on Lexa’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Lexa said with another laugh, “yeah, we can go now… Go say goodnight to Raven.”

Tris ran from the room back to the living room, as Clarke backed away a little.

“Guess I’ll see you around Doctor Griffin…” Lexa said as she moved to walk from the room.

“Lexa…” Clarke said, stopping Lexa in her tracks.

“It would’ve been a mistake, Clarke,” Lexa said, turning back to look at her, “not that I didn’t want to… cause I _really_ did, but… I think I’m going to have to win over your friends first.”

“Good luck with that.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“Don’t count me out just yet.” Lexa said with a smirk as Tris came back over to her.

Tris walked over to Clarke and put her arms around Clarke’s waist, hugging her.

“Thank you for fixing Lexa.” She said.

“No problem.” Clarke replied with a smile, “I’ll see you soon.”

Tris nodded as she walked back over to Lexa.

“Ready?” Lexa asked, looking down at Tris as the younger girl took her hand and nodded, before Lexa looked back at Clarke, “goodnight Clarke…”

“Goodnight Lexa…” Clarke said with a small smile as the two girls left.

Clarke closed the front door behind Lincoln, Lexa and Tris, before she walked back into the living room and dropped herself down on the sofa.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was pretty fun to write. We've got more Tris (I love that kid), Lincoln meets Octavia for the first time, Lexa gets jealous and things gets a little heated towards the end. Let me know what you think ;)

 

It had been a few days since Clarke had seen Lexa, though the brunette girl was never far from her thoughts, Clarke figured that Lexa was probably busy. The fact that she hadn’t been at the clinic or the police station told Clarke that she was probably safe.

The blonde girl was covering a day-time shift for her mom, who had a meeting that she couldn’t get out of, Clarke was pretty thankful that it was a quiet day. She was sitting in the locker room, taking her break, replying to texts from Raven and Octavia about where they were going to go that night. Grounders seemed to be the popular choice.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa had spent the day looking after Tris, Luna was still cleaning up the bar, and Lincoln was lending a hand which had left Lexa looking after the kid. They’d gone out for ice cream in the morning and spent most of the afternoon hanging out in the park messing around playing catch. Tris had fallen while running backwards trying to catch a ball that Lexa had thrown over her head, and she had a nasty cut on her leg. Lexa had tried cleaning it up, but Tris was sure that her leg was going to fall off and she needed to go to the clinic. In an effort to calm the younger girl down Lexa agreed.

So with Tris on her back Lexa walked them to the clinic, as they entered Lexa could see from the board with the names of the staff working that day that Clarke was working, that in itself seemed to cheer Tris up and it also stopped the tears which Lexa was thankful for. They went over to the reception desk.

“Welcome to the Griffin Clinic,” Maya the receptionist said with a smile, “how can we help you today.”

“I need to see Doctor Clarke.” Tris said over Lexa’s shoulder, holding her leg out towards Maya to show her the cut on her leg.

“Okay,” Maya replied, sharing a smile with Lexa, “can I ask your name?”

“Tris.” Tris said, “Doctor Clarke is my friend, and she needs to fix my leg before it falls off.”

“I see,” Maya said, as Lexa laughed a little at how dramatic Tris was being, Maya looked at Lexa, “and your name, as you’ve brought her in.”

“Alexandria Woods.” Lexa said.

“I’ll just go and see if I can find Doctor Clarke for you.” Maya said as she walked off towards the locker room.

“You know you might not be able to see Clarke, right kid,” Lexa said, “she might be busy.”

“But Lexa, my leg might fall off.” Tris said.

Clarke’s attention was torn away from her phone as Maya walked into the locker room.

“I know you’re on your break,” Maya said with a little smile, “but there’s a young kid at reception asking to see you. She said you’re her friend and you need to fix her leg before it falls off.”

Clarke laughed a little, as she put her phone back in her pocket as she stood up.

“What’s her name?” she asked, walking towards the door.

“Tris.” Maya replied, “she’s here with Alexandria Woods.”

Clarke stopped at the door, her heart suddenly feeling like it was going to beat out of her chest.

“I can get someone else to take care of her,” Maya said, misunderstanding why Clarke had stopped, “I can just tell them you’re busy.”

“No,” Clarke replied a little too quickly, “I’ll do it.”

“Are you okay Clarke?” Maya asked, her voice betraying the amusement she felt, “you look a little flushed.”

“I’m fine.” Clarke grumbled before she opened the door and walked out to the reception area.

The blonde couldn’t stop the small smile that was playing on her lips as she saw Lexa and Tris standing there, both smiling as they saw Clarke. It was pretty obvious that Lexa had given Tris a piggyback ride to the clinic, telling Clarke that her ribs were obviously healing well after the fight at Luna’s Bar a few days before.

“Doctor Clarke.” Tris called as Clarke walked over to them.

“That was right in my ear squirt…” Lexa said, moving her head away from Tris.

“What can I do for you today?” Clarke asked with a laugh as she reached them.

“We were playing ball in the park and…” Lexa started to say.

“I can tell her,” Tris said to Lexa, causing the other girl to laugh a little, “we were playing ball and Lexa threw the ball too hard over my head, I fell over and my leg is going to fall off.”

She stuck her leg out under Lexa’s arm so Clarke could see the cut on her knee.

“So this is Lexa’s fault?” Clarke asked as she gently took hold of the girl’s leg to get a better look at the cut.

“Totally.” Tris said with a nod.

“It was not my fault,” Lexa replied, turning her head a little to look at Tris, “if you’d been running forwards, rather than backwards, you wouldn’t have tripped.”

“If you hadn’t thrown it so hard I wouldn’t have had to run.” Tris argued.

“Way to sell me out kid…” Lexa said with a sigh and a dramatic roll of her eyes.

Maya couldn’t stop the laugh escaping her as she watched the interaction.

“Am I right though?” Lexa asked, looking at Maya.

“Sounds like it.” Maya said with a nod as she turned her attention back to the computer in front of her.

“Let’s get this looked at,” Clarke said to Tris, “if you’d like to follow me.”

Clarke walked down one of the small corridors, Lexa and Tris following behind her. Once they were in the examination room Lexa sat Tris down on the bed, while Clarke pulled up a chair and sat in front of the young girl.

“So what’s the diagnosis Doctor Griffin?” Lexa asked, her hand resting on the back of the chair that Clarke was sitting in.

“Well…” Clarke said, glancing up at Lexa, “it’s a pretty bad cut…”

“Can you fix it?” Tris asked.

“I don’t know,” Clarke replied, “we might just have to cut the leg off, what do you think Lexa?”

“It’s looking that way Doc.” Lexa replied fighting to keep the amusement off her face as Tris’s eyes went wide.

“Oh my mom is gonna kick your butt.” Tris said to Lexa, causing both Clarke and Lexa to burst out laughing.

“I think you’re going to be okay,” Clarke said with a soft smile, “it’s not that bad.”

The blonde stood up and walked over to the cupboard, she took out some sterile wipes and walked back over to the bed.

“This might sting a little bit,” Clarke said to Tris, “can you be brave for me?”

Tris nodded.

Lexa found herself smiling a little as she watched how Clarke was with Tris, she mentally kicked herself when she felt a warm feeling in her chest. 

“ _I am so screwed_ ” she thought to herself, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

She watched as Clarke slowly cleaned the cut on Tris’s knee, the younger girl trying her best not to show that it hurt. Lexa knew how much the wipes hurt, she’d experienced it herself a few times. She sat down on the bed next to Tris, wrapping her arm around the younger girls shoulder as she leant closer to Lexa.

“You’re doing good squirt…” Lexa said quietly as she kissed the top of Tris’s head.

Clarke looked at Lexa, an apologetic smile on her face.

“Can we get ice cream after this?” Tris asked Lexa quietly.

“We already had ice cream earlier,” Lexa replied, “how about we get milkshake from the Dropship instead?”

“Can Clarke come?” Tris asked.

“I don’t know, I think Clarke’s busy,” Lexa said with a small smile, “why don’t you ask her.”

“Doctor Clarke, can you come and get milkshake with us?” Tris asked Clarke.

“I’m working,” Clarke said, “maybe next time though.”

“Promise?” the younger girl asked.

“I promise.” Clarke replied with a smile, “okay, we’re done. Now, as you were so brave, I think we should put a special band-aid on this. Dragons or unicorns?”

“Dragons.” Tris said, her face automatically lighting up.

“Dragons it is.” Clarke said with a wink and a nod.

Clarke stood up and walked back over to the cupboard, and found the band-aids that she kept in there for the younger visitors to the clinic. Grabbing the right size one with dragons on it, she walked back over and carefully put it over the small cut on Tris’s knee.

“Okay,” she said with a smile, “all done.”

“Thanks Doctor Clarke.” Tris said, putting her arms around Clarke’s neck and hugging her.

“Why can’t I get hugs like this from all the people I fix?” Clarke asked, looking at Lexa with a smirk on her face, causing the brunette girl to smile a little, and Clarke was sure she could see Lexa blush slightly.

“Right monster,” Lexa said, “let’s go and get you this milkshake, then I’m going to have to take you back.”

“No.” Tris said looking at Lexa.

“Yes,” Lexa said with a nod, “Anya is looking after you tonight, I’m back at work, remember.”

“You’ve been off work?” Clarke asked as she helped Tris down from the bed.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied, “can’t work behind a bar when you can’t reach for the spirt rack without causing yourself some pain.”

“Your ribs still hurting you?” the blonde asked, concern evident in her voice.

“Not so much anymore.” The other girl said with a small smile, “I had a great doctor patch me back up.”

Clarke smiled a little and felt herself blush.

“That colour looks good on you.” Lexa said quietly as she and Tris walked towards the door.

“Let me know the next time you’re going to get milkshake,” Clarke said to Tris, “I’ll make sure I’m there.”

“Okay.” The young girl said with a big smile.

“I might see you later Lexa,” the blonde said as they walked towards the reception, “me, Raven and O are going out later, I think O said something about heading to Grounders.”

“Then I’ll probably see you then.” Lexa replied with a smile.

Clarke stood at the reception and watched as Lexa and Tris left, the younger girl turning around and waving to Clarke before they walked back out onto the street.

“She seems nice.” Maya said, making Clarke jump a little as she’d forgotten that the other girl was there.

“She’s a good kid.” Clarke said with a nod.

“I meant Alexandria.” Maya replied with a smile.

“Yeah,” Clarke said with a small laugh, “she is…”

“Apparently we’re all going out later,” the brunette said, “Jasper text me saying that we’re all meeting up at Grounders.”

“It should be a good night.” Clarke said with a small nod as she picked up the next chart and called her next patient.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Raven and Octavia were waiting in the living room of their apartment for Clarke, who had been getting ready for the last hour and 30 minutes. That time had included a shower, but it was still a record for Clarke to take that long getting ready to go out.

“What is taking her so long…” Raven said with a huff as she sat down on the sofa next to her other best friend.

“We’re going to Grounders,” Octavia replied with a laugh as she finished her second bottle of beer, “that means Lexa’s gonna be there.”

“She hasn’t been there for the last few nights,” Raven said, “we don’t know if she’ll be there tonight.”

“How do you know she hasn’t been there?” the younger girl asked.

“I hear things,” Raven replied with a shrug, “Lincoln came into the garage today.”

“Lincoln being Gustus’s son, right?” Octavia asked, Raven had told her that Lincoln had come to pick Lexa up from the apartment, she hadn’t met him yet, she’d been at work that night.

“Yeah.” The other girl said, “he came in about me fixing up his car.”

“And you said?” Octavia asked as she turned to face Raven on the sofa.

“He’s bringing it in tomorrow afternoon.” She said, “Doesn’t mean I’m taking up the full-time mechanic offer, but I do need their business…”

Both girls looked towards Clarke’s room as her bedroom door opened and she walked out. She was wearing a fitted white shirt, faded jeans, boots which added an extra couple of inches to her height and a black suit jacket. Her hair was down loose and wavy around her shoulders.

“Hot damn girl,” Octavia said, motioning for Clarke to turn around, “if I was into girls I could just eat you right up.”

“Looking good Princess.” Raven said, “those jeans…”

“Too much?” Clarke asked, as she looked at her friends.

“You’ll have her eating out of the palm of your hand before the night is done.” Raven said as she stood up.

“I don’t think it’s her hand she wants her eating out of.” Octavia said with a smirk.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Clarke replied innocently, though the blush which was currently covering her cheeks told a different story.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

The club was pretty busy, but it was Friday night, so that was nothing new. Lincoln was working behind the bar with Lexa, Echo and Ryder. Lexa had noticed when Clarke’s group of friends arrived, Bellamy had already been over to the bar ordering a round of drinks, and the blonde was nowhere to be seen. As Raven and Octavia weren’t there either, she rationalised it in her head by saying they just weren’t there yet.

“Someone’s in a good mood.” Echo said with a smirk as she reached around Lexa to grab a clean glass.

“She’s waiting on her girl to arrive.” Lincoln replied, ducking as Lexa threw an ice cube at his head.

“She’s not my girl.” Lexa said, walking over to the next customer.

A few minutes later while she was serving some drinks Lexa caught a flash of blonde hair in her peripheral vision. Looking up she saw Clarke walking towards the table her friends were seated at, with Raven and Octavia trailing behind.

“Wow,” Echo said walking up next to Lexa, “who’s the hottie?”

“Which one?” Lincoln asked, his eyes following the trio for completely different reasons to Lexa.

“I’m not picky,” Echo said with a laugh, “they are all hot.”

“Her name is Octavia, Lincoln,” Lexa said, knowing that must be who he meant as he had already met Clarke and Raven, “she’s Blake’s younger sister. The other brunette is Raven and the blonde is Clarke.”

“Clarke Griffin?” Echo asked, “Mrs G’s kid? Wow, Anya mentioned that she was pretty but… jeez.”

“Don’t even think about it Echo.” Lincoln said, nudging the girl as he motioned to Lexa, “she’s off the market.”

“Say no more.” Echo said with a smile, leaning closer to Lexa, “you’ve got great taste.”

“There’s nothing going on.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little as she glanced back over at the table, catching Clarke looking at her, which caused her to smile.

“Right…” Echo said with a laugh, before serving another of the waiting customers.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

“So what took you all so long?” Bellamy asked as Clarke, Raven and Octavia sat down.

“Clarke was wanting to make herself look pretty for Lexa.” Octavia said with a laugh, her eyes straying to the bar, “who’s the guy working with Lexa?”

“Lincoln.” Raven replied.

“He’s pretty hot…” the younger girl said as she tilted her head a little as she looked at Lincoln.

“Oh god.” Bellamy said, shaking his head, “As you three were late you can get the next round in.”

“We’ll go,” Octavia said, standing up and dragging Raven up with her, “back soon.”

Clarke laughed a little as Raven looked back at them and rolled her eyes a little.

“You do look nice, Clarke.” Maya said with a smile from where she was sitting next to Jasper.

“Thank you Maya.” The blonde replied with a smile of her own.

“Nice for Lexa huh?” Bellamy asked quietly as he leant a little closer to Clarke.

“Seriously Bell.” Clarke said, elbowing him playfully, “there’s nothing going on with me and Lexa.”

“Yet.” Monty said.

Clarke shook her head a little as her friends all started laughing.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

A few hours later Lexa was standing at the end of the bar, taking a break while talking to Lincoln. Though she was talking to her cousin, her eyes were fixed on Clarke who was dancing with Raven and Octavia.

“What do you think of Octavia?” Lincoln asked Lexa.

“She’s… entertaining.” Lexa replied honestly, “loyal, cute… in a ‘I’m going to bite your ankles’ kind of way…”

Lincoln laughed at that last part.

“But seriously,” Lexa continued, “if you like her, ask her out or something, the way she’s been looking at you tonight kinda tells me she wouldn’t say no.”

“You think?” Lincoln asked.

“You are so dense sometimes.” Lexa said, patting him on the head, before dodging his hand as he tried to punch her arm, “you’re a great guy Linc, any girl would be lucky to have you.”

“You say the sweetest things.” He replied with a laugh before going back to work.

Indra walked from the office and over to where Lexa was standing.

“Any problems?” she asked.

“Nope,” Lexa replied, “you might as well head off, I’ve got everything covered here.”

Indra nodded.

“Seriously,” Lexa said, “it’s quiet. Nyko’s here, Ryder’s here and Lincoln’s here, if it kicks off, we’ve got it covered. Go home.”

Indra turned to walk back to the office.

Lexa turned her attention back to the dance floor. She noticed a couple of guys moving closer to where Clarke, Raven and Octavia were dancing. As she watched one of them lean closer to Clarke, whispering something in her ear, she clenched her jaw a little. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to watch. Clarke laughed a little at whatever the guy had said to her.

“You look like you’re about to kill someone,” Echo said as she walked over to Lexa, “what’s up?”

“Nothing.” Lexa replied, taking a deep breath to try and calm the jealous feeling that was building in her chest.

Echo followed Lexa’s eye line and saw what was bothering her.

“Ah…” she said, “that explains a lot.”

“What explains a lot?” Lexa snapped, not taking her eyes off Clarke.

“That guy looks like he might be a little interested in your girl.” Echo said, nudging Lexa’s shoulder.

“How many more times,” Lexa replied, “she’s not my girl.”

Lexa watched as the guy started dancing behind Clarke, the blonde seemingly okay with the interaction, until he put his hands on her hips. Lexa’s eyes narrowed again as she watched Clarke move away from him, just to have him do the same thing again. She pushed herself away from the end of the bar, slowly walking closer to where the girls were dancing. As the guy got a little more hands on, Lexa walked over to him and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling him away from Clarke who was clearly very uncomfortable.

“What the hell is your problem?” he drunkenly slurred at Lexa.

“Right now, you.” Lexa replied, “if a girl pulls away like that, she’s not interested in your advances.”

“We were just dancing,” he said, “mind your own business.”

Indra had come back out of the office and was watching what was taking place on the dance floor.

“She’s not interested,” Lexa said to the guy, “so back off.”

“Are you going to make me?” he asked, stepping closer to Lexa.

“Lincoln,” Indra said, “Ryder.”

She motioned to the dance floor.

“On it.” Lincoln said as he and Ryder walked around the bar towards where Lexa was.

As the guy moved to push past Lexa and closer to Clarke again, Ryder grabbed him by the shoulders, as Lincoln did the same to Lexa.

“What the hell.” The guy said.

“Time for you to go my friend.” Ryder said as he turned him away from the dance floor and away from Lexa.

“I was just enjoying a dance with the pretty girl,” the guy said to Ryder, “no laws against that.”

“The girl who clearly isn’t interested.” Lexa said.

“You dykes are all the same.” The guy said, turning his head and looking at Lexa.

Lincoln had his arms around Lexa’s waist before she could move forward.

“Get him out of here.” Lincoln said to Ryder who pretty much marched the guy to the front door, “you need to calm down Lex…”

“I’m calm.” She replied through gritted teeth, her eyes fixed on the door which the guy was currently walking out of.

“You’re really not…” Lincoln said as he started to walk Lexa away from the dance floor.

“I’m fine.” Lexa said, pulling away from him and walking towards the side door.

“Go after her.” Raven said to Clarke, Octavia nodded in agreement.

Clarke sighed, running her hand through her hair before she followed Lexa out of the side door and into the alleyway. She found Lexa crouched by the wall, her eyes fixed on the wall opposite.

“You okay?” Clarke asked as she stood near where Lexa was crouched leaning against the wall.

“I’m fine…” Lexa replied, “go back inside.”

“Not until you talk to me.” Clarke said.

“What do you want me to say, Clarke?” Lexa asked, as she stood up, “I’m sorry? Because I’m not. You were obviously not interested.”

“Didn’t realise you were watching me that closely.” Clarke replied, as she stepped closer to Lexa.

“Yeah, well…” Lexa said, shaking her head a little as she sighed, “maybe I was…”

“Maybe I knew you were…” Clarke said, standing in front of Lexa.

“Clarke…” Lexa said quietly, as she swallowed hard.

“You can tell me to stop…” Clarke said as she slowly moved her hands to Lexa’s hips.

Lexa closed her eyes, clenching her jaw a little at the contact.

“You’ve been drinking.” She said, opening her eyes and looking at Clarke, noticing the other girl’s eyes were suddenly darker than usual, knowing that hers were probably the same.

“How many more excuses can you come up with for us not to do this, Lexa?” Clarke asked, moving her hand to the soft skin of Lexa’s neck, noticing the other girl’s breath catch in her throat as she did.

Lexa’s hands found their way to Clarke’s waist as the blonde closed the remaining distance between them. The kiss started off slowly, before Clarke ran her tongue over Lexa’s lower lip. The brunette pulled the girl closer to her as the kiss deepened and Clarke tangled her fingers in Lexa’s hair. Clarke moaned into the kiss which caused something inside Lexa to break. She turned them around so Clarke was up against the wall, the blonde pulling her closer still. As she felt Clarke’s hips push towards hers, Lexa broke breathlessly from the kiss. Resting her forehead against Clarke’s as both of them tried to catch their breath.

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Clarke asked, a smirk on her lips and her eyebrow arched slightly, “the world didn’t end or anything…”

“Shut up.” Lexa said with a small laugh as she kissed her again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part starts of pretty fluffy, but it doesn't stay that way. Lexa makes a few choices which are going to change everything about her life, she just doesn't realise it yet. Let me know what you think, enjoy.

 

When she woke up Lexa couldn’t stop the small smile forming on her lips as the memories of the previous night came back to her. Sure she should have stopped Clarke from kissing her, the blonde girl had been drinking after all, but in that one moment Lexa had felt all her self-control leave her. She hadn’t been able to stop it nor had she been able to stop herself returning the kiss. She had however been able to stop it going further than that, she had known if they’d stayed in the alleyway she wouldn’t have been able to stop. So moments after Clarke had kissed her she had guided the blonde girl back into the bar. Clarke had continued drinking with her friends, and Lexa had gone back to work.

Later in the night Raven had sat at the bar and in her drunken state she had started asking Lexa questions about her father. Questions that Lexa hadn’t been able to answer for her, not because she wouldn’t, but because she didn’t have those answers that Raven seemed to so desperately seek.

As she lay there looking at the ceiling she knew where she could find those answers. So after taking a shower and getting ready, she got on her bike and rode out to Gustus’s house. She’d expected most people to still be asleep, and as she entered the house she found she was right. She knew that Gustus wouldn’t really approve of what she was about to do, but at that moment she didn’t really care either. Lexa knew she was about to cross a line, but she knew what it was like to want answers. To have questions that nobody seemed to be able to answer in a way that was enough. Raven needed answers, and Lexa knew that if she didn’t get those answers then she was never going to be able to move forward.

So she made her way up the main staircase, along the landing and up the small stairs that lead a part of the house nobody really went to. She opened the loft door and went up into the darkness. As she turned the light on she made her way over to the back of the room. Gustus had the loft converted not long after they had moved in, it’s where most of the records were stored, but unless you knew what you were looking for the whole room looked like it was just filled with junk. Lexa knew what she was looking for and as she reached one of the old trunks at the back of the room she dropped down to her knees, opening it she took out an old wooden box which had an R carved into the top. It was exactly what it appeared to be, it was Raven’s box.

She took the box back downstairs with her, hoping to make it out of the house before anyone knew she was there. Lexa knew she wouldn’t be that lucky, and as she was walking back down the main staircase she saw Lincoln waiting.

“Taking that somewhere?” he asked, motioning at the box in her hand.

“Why ask questions to which you already know the answer?” Lexa asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“You know that he isn’t going to like this Lex.” Lincoln said with a sigh.

“Are you going to stop me?” she asked in reply, a challenging look in her eye.

“Lexa,” he said, “think about this. What’s in that box is probably going to cause more problems than you know.”

“It’s going to solve a lot of problems as well,” she replied, “she needs to know who she is, Linc, she needs to know where she comes from. We messed up her head by giving her part of the answer, she needs to know the rest.”

“And when he realises it’s gone?” Lincoln asked.

“Then that’s on me.” She said with a small smile, “I’ll deal with it.”

Lincoln just sighed as he stepped aside and let Lexa leave the house with the box.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Her next stop that morning had been Raven’s garage, which was closed. She figured as Raven had been so wasted the night before she would probably open later that day, but Lexa couldn’t keep riding around with the box in the storage part of her bike, so she had gone to the store, picked up what she would need to cook breakfast and headed to Clarke’s.

She heard grumbling coming from inside the apartment as she knocked on the door, people suffering from hangovers always made her laugh as she rarely drank enough to actually get them. She couldn’t actually remember the last time that she had been so drunk that she couldn’t remember her name, her life didn’t leave time for that.

Lexa couldn’t stop the small laugh that escaped her as Raven opened the door. The other girl looked like hell. Instead of saying anything to Lexa she simply looked at her and walked back over to the sofa where she laid back down with her arm over her eyes. She’d left the door open though, which Lexa took as an invitation.

“Well good morning to you too Raven.” Lexa said as she walked into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

“Quiet voice,” Raven said, not moving her arm to look at Lexa, “this is the time we use the quiet voice.”

Lexa laughed a little as she put the box down on the island in the kitchen, putting the bag down next to it she started looking for what she needed to make breakfast. She was attempting to be as quiet as she could, but the grumbling from the sofa told her that she was failing.

“Did you just come here to piss me off?” Raven asked, lifting her arm as she glared at Lexa.

“I was actually about to start making breakfast,” Lexa replied, turning to look at her, “but I could always just leave again.”

“Breakfast you say…” Raven said, sitting up with another groan.

“Full cooked breakfast,” Lexa said with a nod, “rumour has it that it’s great for hangovers.”

“I think I can deal with that.” Raven replied with a small nod of her own as she lay back down again, “But why are you really here? I mean you didn’t come over just to make breakfast…”

“Do you remember sitting at the bar last night asking me a load of questions that I couldn’t answer?” Lexa asked, to which Raven nodded in reply, “well I brought you something that can answer those questions, but you don’t want to look at it before you’ve eaten, you’re going to need a clear head for this. Trust me.”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

As Lexa cooked breakfast, and the smells started making their way through the apartment, Octavia found her way out of her room.

“Why is there a gangster in our kitchen?” She asked Raven as she sat in one of the chairs, “and why is it so bright in here…”

“This is what morning time looks like O…” Raven grumbled.

“Well morning time sucks.” Octavia replied before she looked at Lexa, “did you spend the night here? Did Clarke sneak you in when we’d passed out?”

“No,” Lexa replied with a laugh, “she didn’t. I brought something round for Raven, figured you’d all need something to get rid of those hangovers.”

“This doesn’t mean I like you…” Octavia said.

“Noted.” Lexa said with a smile as she finished the breakfast, “does someone want to go and wake Clarke…”

“No.” Raven and Octavia both said at the same time.

“She can’t be that bad…” Lexa said as she sorted out the breakfast, putting everything on plates on the island so that each girl could decide what they wanted to eat.

“You go wake her up,” Octavia replied as she stood up and made her way over to the food, “It might change your mind about wanting to date her, she’s a nightmare when she’s hungover.”

Lexa rolled her eyes a little and sighed before she made her way to Clarke’s room. She opened the door quietly and couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight that met her. The blonde girl was laying tangled up in her duvet, her blonde hair covering the pillow. The clothes that Clarke had been wearing the night before were littered across the floor where she had obviously drunkenly removed them. Lexa made her way over to the bed.

“Clarke…” she said quietly, brushing a strand of hair from the sleeping girls face, “come on sleeping beauty, time to wake up.”

Clarke grumbled and turned over, burying her face in her pillow. Lexa smiled a little as she crouched down next to the bed, her arms resting on the bed near Clarke’s pillow and her chin on her arms.

“If you don’t get up I think Octavia will eat all the bacon…” Lexa said.

“We have bacon?” Clarke asked, her voice taking on that husky quality from sleep, as she lifted her head a little and looked over at Lexa.

“Yep.” Lexa said with a little nod and a smile, reaching her hand over to move some more of Clarke’s hair from her face.

“We didn’t… did we?” Clarke asked.

“No,” Lexa said with a laugh, as she stood up, “trust me, you’d remember it.”

“Pretty sure I dreamt about it then.” Clarke replied as she rolled back over onto her back and stretched.

“Oh yeah?” Lexa asked, leaning against the doorframe as she looked at the blonde, “was it any good?”

“Mhm…” Clarke replied with a sleepy smile.

Lexa smiled a little as Clarke threw off the duvet and climbed out of bed, she was wearing a t-shirt which came down to her mid-thigh and Lexa couldn’t stop her mind from wondering if the blonde was wearing anything underneath it. Clarke glanced over at her as Lexa bit her lower lip, the blonde smirked a little as she quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and slowly walked over to where Lexa was standing.

“No need to ask what just went through your head…” she said, stopping in front of her.

“No idea what you’re talking about.” Lexa replied with a quick arch of her eyebrow and a smile as her hands moved to rest on Clarke’s hips.

“Well that’s a shame…” Clarke said as she slowly moved to close the distance between their lips.

“Ah…” Lexa said, backing up a little, “I’m pretty sure your mouth probably tastes like the inside of a stale whiskey bottle right now, so that has to wait till you’ve cleaned your teeth.”

Clarke groaned a little as Lexa placed a soft kiss on her forehead before she walked from the room and back towards the kitchen where Raven and Octavia were happily eating their way through the breakfast.

“You better not have eaten everything.” Lexa said as she walked over and picked a slice of bacon up from the plate.

“Not everything…” Octavia mumbled with her mouth full of food.

Lexa was making coffee as she felt Clarke’s arms go around her waist from behind, it made her heart leap a little in her chest. She turned to face the blonde.

“Cleaned my teeth…” Clarke said with a big smile, which caused Lexa to laugh.

“Good,” Lexa replied with a smirk, “now you can eat breakfast.”

Clarke rolled her eyes dramatically, before Lexa closed the distance between their lips. Her arms went around Clarke’s waist as the blonde gripped onto her shirt pulling her closer.

“PG-13 before 11am.” Octavia said from where she was sitting.

Lexa backed out of the kiss and looked at the clock on the wall.

“It’s 11:02.” She said before kissing Clarke again.

“Fine,” Octavia said with a dramatic sigh, “then I guess I’ll just eat the rest of this bacon, I mean we wouldn’t want it to go to waste now would we.”

“Don’t you dare.” Clarke said, backing out of the kiss and glaring at her friend who just smirked at her.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

“So,” Raven said as she sat on the sofa after breakfast was finished, “what’s this thing you wanted to show me?”

Lexa stood up from where she was sitting on the floor in front of the chair which Clarke was sitting in and walked over to the island. Picking up the box she turned and looked back at Raven.

“This is going to answer a lot of your questions,” she said, walking back over to her, “it probably won’t answer all of them, but it’s a start.”

She handed her the box before going to sit on the arm of the chair.

“What is it?” Raven asked, looking down at the box which was now in her lap.

“It’s kind of like a memory box,” Lexa replied, “I had something similar, Anya and Lincoln did too. My parents started mine when I was born, in case they weren’t around when I grew up to answer any questions I might have. The lives that they lead didn’t really promise a long and happy future, you know, so… they put it all in a box.”

“So my father did this?” the other girl asked.

“Your mom and dad started it,” Lexa said with a nod, “there’s photo’s, letters, that kind of thing. Gustus and Indra added in a few things too, newspaper cuttings, stuff like that…”

“Why do you have it?” Octavia asked from where she was sitting next to Raven, “I mean, why didn’t her mom have it or something?”

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied, “I didn’t have it, I got it from the house this morning. I think it was probably too difficult for her mom, that part of her mom’s life ended when her father died…”

“And Gustus was okay with you bringing it?” Clarke asked, running her hand softly down Lexa’s back.

“He was still asleep…” Lexa said, looking at the girl with a soft smile.

“So you could get into trouble for this?” the blonde asked.

“Possibly,” the brunette replied with a nod, “but don’t worry about that, I’ll deal with it.”

“Take it back to him.” Raven said, holding out the box towards Lexa.

“What’s done is done, Raven,” Lexa said with a sigh, “taking it back to him won’t change that. You need answers and the only way you’re going to get them is with that box.”

Raven nodded a little as she put the box back on her lap, with a sigh she opened it. The first thing she saw was a photograph. From looking at it she knew it was her when she was a baby, with her mom and the guy she had been told was her father.

“They look happy…” Octavia said as she rested her head on her friends shoulder.

The four of them sat there for a little while longer, Lexa on the arm of the chair, Clarke’s head on her legs, the brunette softly running her fingers through her hair. Raven and Octavia were looking at the photographs from when Raven was a baby, Octavia poking fun sometimes about how cute Raven looked and wondering what had happened. The mechanic decided that she didn’t want to read the letters yet, so she’d put them to one side so she could read them later. Lexa figured she’d do that when she was alone.

Lexa’s phone ringing broke the silence in the room, as she took it out of her pocket she sighed.

“I’ve got to take this…” she said before answering the phone, “yeah…”

“Where the hell are you?” Anya asked, Lexa knowing from her tone that she really wasn’t happy.

“Out…” Lexa replied simply.

“You need to get back here Lexa,” Anya said, “now.”

“I’m busy.” Lexa said, trying to keep her voice as calm as she could.

“Whatever it is can wait,” Anya replied, “he wants to see you, and you know patience isn’t his strong suit.”

“What does he want to see me about?” she asked, knowing full well what it was.

“Don’t play dumb, Lex,” the other girl replied with a sigh, “you know what this is about.”

“How pissed off is he?” Lexa asked, “scale of 1 to 10…”

“We’re at about a 7 now,” Anya said, “but if you don’t get back here soon you can probably forget all about scales.”

“Okay…” Lexa said with a sigh, running her hand through her hair, “I’ll be there soon.”

As she hung up she could see the other three looking at her.

“I’ve got to go.” She said with a smile as she stood up.

“How much shit are you in?” Raven asked, closing the box as she stood up.

“Not sure yet,” Lexa replied with a shrug, “probably been through worse.”

“Lexa…” Raven started to say.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a smile, “this is on me, okay, I’ll deal with it. You needed those answers.”

“But you didn’t need to get yourself into shit because of it.” Raven replied.

“I think I did.” The other girl said, “It needed to be done.”

Lexa walked to the door, Clarke following behind her.

“What’s going to happen?” the blonde asked as Lexa stopped and looked back at her.

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied honestly, “he’s probably going to have a few choice words for me, but I’m expecting that.”

“Are you working later?” the blonde asked as she took hold of Lexa’s hands.

“I think so,” Lexa said with a nod, “depends what happens when I get back.”

“Okay…” Clarke said with a nod.

Lexa pulled the blonde girl closer to her and kissed her softly.

“Don’t worry too much,” she said, “I’ll be fine.”

Clarke nodded as she stood and watched Lexa leave the apartment.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa parked her bike outside the house, Anya had already opened the door before she walked up the steps.

“What the hell were you thinking?” the older girl asked as she closed the door behind them.

“She wanted answers,” Lexa replied, “last night at the bar she was wasted, and she kept asking me all these questions that I couldn’t answer. She needed to know.”

“You don’t get to make that decision, Lexa.” Anya said.

“Well it’s not like anyone else around here was going to do it,” Lexa said, “if it was up to anyone else she would never know the truth. I’m the one who decided that we should tell her who her father was in the first place, so why shouldn’t it have been down to me.”

“Because it’s not your place.” The older girl replied as they were interrupted by small footsteps running down the main stairs.

“Lexa!” Tris said, throwing herself at the older girl who caught her with no trouble, “you’re here.”

“Uncle Gustus wants to see me.” Lexa said with a smile as she span Tris around a little.

“You been naughty?” Tris asked.

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a slight nod, as she put Tris down, “you could say that.”

“Alexandria.” Gustus said from where he was standing near his office, Indra was standing next to him.

As Lexa looked towards them Gustus motioned for her to come to the office, she nodded a little before looking down at Tris.

“See you soon, kid.” She said, before walking towards the office.

Gustus walked in before her and Indra walked in behind her, closing the door.

“Sit.” Gustus said, motioning to the chair in front of his desk as he sat down behind it.

“I’d rather stand.” Lexa replied.

“Sit.” He repeated, causing Lexa to sigh and roll her eyes a little as she sat down, “it’s my understanding that you took a box from the loft this morning…”

“I did.” Lexa replied, bringing her right foot up to rest on top of her left leg, her arms resting on the arms of the chair, showing Gustus that she was relaxed, something that he probably wasn’t expecting.

“Those boxes are not supposed to leave this house,” he said, “they contain information that could be very damaging to us.”

“Very damaging to you.” Lexa said, “not to me. I’m pretty sure those letters in that box have you mentioned a few times.”

“If I go down, we all go down,” he said, leaning forward on his desk slightly, “you know that.”

“If you go down, this family gets handed to the next person,” she said, “that’s the way it is right, that’s what you’ve always told me.”

“Do you want to destroy this family Lexa?” he asked.

“No,” Lexa replied, “I don’t. But she needed to know. She needed answers and the only way she could get them was by looking at that box. It belongs to her anyway, we were never meant to keep it.”

“If you’d have waited, talked to me about it, then I could’ve gone through the box,” he said, “taken out things that could be seen as damaging.”

“You mean you could decide which truth she was told,” Lexa replied, “you could, yet again, decide what she did and didn’t know. What is it about Raven knowing the truth that bothers you so much? Is there something in that box that none of us should know about?”

“What has been going on with you this last week Lexa,” Gustus said with a sigh, completely ignoring what she had just asked him, “you’ve changed.”

“People don’t change in a week.” Lexa replied.

“You have,” he said, “you have suddenly started to question everything. Where you used to listen, you instead choose to argue.”

“Who was that blonde girl in the bar?” Indra asked from where she was standing not far behind Lexa.

“Which blonde girl?” Lexa asked, glancing back at her Aunt.

“The one you nearly caused a fight over.” Indra said.

“Her name is Clarke,” Lexa replied, sitting up a little straighter in her chair, “she’s the one who saved Anya’s life.”

“The young doctor,” Gustus said, “why do you feel the need to fight over her, Lexa?”

“I saw that she was being put in a position that she wasn’t comfortable with, so I stepped in.” Lexa replied, “Simple as that.”

“So it has nothing to do with the night and day you spent at her apartment following the fight at Luna’s?” Indra asked.

“If it wasn’t for Clarke I would’ve been locked up,” Lexa said, looking back at Indra, “the police had been called, and I was in no position to run.”

“Who took you from the bar, Lexa?” Indra asked, stepping closer to her.

“I don’t remember,” Lexa said, “we’ve been through this.”

“We believe it would be in your best interests, if you stopped spending so much time around Dr Griffin.” Gustus said, leaning back in his chair, “she isn’t part of our world. Her mother accepted payment for treating Anya, but Clarke refused. She will never be part of our world, Lexa.”

“Are you done?” Lexa asked, her jaw clenched as she looked at Gustus.

He nodded slightly and Lexa stood up, passing Indra she walked to the door. She stopped before opening the door, turning back and looking at both of them.

“You don’t get to decide who is in my life.” She said, opening the door and walking from the room.

As the door closed Gustus looked at Indra.

“I think it may be time for someone to pay the young Doctor Griffin a visit.” He said.

Indra nodded and walked from the room as Gustus turned his chair around and looked out of the window, watching as Lexa drove her bike down the driveway towards the main road.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really not sure what I think of this chapter, so I'm just posting it. I may delete it tomorrow when I re-read it. Let me know what you think, let me know if you think this part needs a complete re-write.

 

Anya walked from the office and into one of the living room areas where she saw Lincoln having a tickle fight with Tris. She sat down on the sofa with a sigh, which caused Lincoln to stop tickling Tris and look at her.

“That bad huh…” he said as the younger girl went and sat next to Anya.

“They want me to go and talk to Clarke,” Anya replied, “so yeah, that bad…”

“Seriously?” Lincoln asked as he stood up, “why?”

“I’m not really sure, something about how Lexa has changed in the last week, and the only thing in Lexa’s life that has changed in that time is that she’s met Clarke…” Anya said.

“She’s known the girl for a little over week and already they’re trying to warn her off?” Lincoln asked, shaking his head a little, “this is bull…”

“Why would they warn her off?” Tris asked, looking up at Anya, “that means they want her to stay away, right?”

“Yeah…” Anya said with a nod.

“But she’s Lexa’s friend,” Tris replied, frowning a little, “and she’s my friend, and she’s supposed to be coming out to get milkshake with me and Lexa next time…”

Anya and Lincoln looked at each other, both having a look of ‘what are we going to do’ on their faces.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke had just put on a movie for her and Octavia when there was a knock at the door.

“Pause that…” Clarke said to Octavia as she walked towards the door.

“We’ve seen this movie three times Clarke,” Octavia replied, “why do you need me to pause it?”

“Just pause it,” The blonde said as she reached the door, opening it she was surprised by who she saw there, “Anya…”

Octavia paused the movie and sat on the sofa in a way that she could see the door, she was suddenly very interested by who was at the door.

“You were obviously expecting someone else.” Anya said, looking past Clarke to see Octavia.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone,” Clarke said, shaking her head a little, “is there something I can do for you?”

“You could start by inviting me in, I don’t really want to have this conversation in the hallway.” The other girl said, causing Clarke to step aside and let her in, “firstly I want to say thank you for what you did at the club, I didn’t realise that you were the one who had pretty much saved my life till Lexa mentioned it.”

“You’re welcome,” Clarke said, leaning against the wall, “just doing what I was trained to do.”

“Figured you’d see it that way,” Anya replied with a nod, “second thing I wanted to talk to you about is Lexa.”

“Is she okay?” Clarke asked, suddenly feeling a little worried.

“As far as I know, yes,” Anya said, “she was fine when she left the house earlier, haven’t seen her since. Listen, my father asked me to come here, I don’t want to be here, in fact I can think of at least a hundred other things that I would rather be doing right now…”

“So why are you here?” Octavia asked as she looked at the girl.

“Whatever this is between you and Lexa isn’t going to end well for either of you,” Anya said, looking at Clarke, “you’re a doctor, and from what I understand a very good one. You heal people, Lexa hurts them. You’re from two very different worlds.”

Clarke nodded a little, her expression not changing as she looked at Anya.

“She does what’s asked of her,” Clarke said, “just as you seem to do, I mean you said you wouldn’t be here if your father hadn’t asked you to come here. Personally I think there’s much more to Lexa than someone who ‘hurts’ people, as you so eloquently put it…”

Anya looked a little confused, not by the long words, but by what Clarke was saying.

“Eloquently means nicely.” Octavia said with a nod.

“I’m aware of that.” Anya replied, shooting Octavia a look which made the younger girl hold her hands up a little.

“Why did your father ask you to come here?” Clarke asked Anya, “To warn me off? To tell me that I’m getting myself into something that I can’t get out of? That I have no idea what I’m getting involved with, or all of the above?”

Anya couldn’t stop the smirk that started playing on her lips.

“You’re here to warn me off,” Clarke said, “but it’s not going to work. I know who Lexa is, I know what she gets up to, hell I’ve patched her up twice already and I’ve only known her a little over a week. If anything was going to scare me off it would’ve been that night she came here after the fight at Luna’s, and as that didn’t scare me away then neither will you.”

“Just out of interest,” Anya replied, narrowing her eyes a little as she looked at Clarke, “how did she get back here that night? She told me that she left her bike at Luna’s and with the injuries she had there was no way she would’ve been able to walk here that night.”

“I have no idea,” Clarke lied, “maybe she got a cab.”

Anya nodded a little, knowing that Clarke wasn’t going to tell her. She also knew that it didn’t matter what she said to the blonde, it wouldn’t make any difference. Part of her didn’t want to warn Clarke off, Lexa had been happier in the week that she had known Clarke, and both Anya and Lincoln didn’t want to end that for her.

Another knock at the door caused everyone to jump a little, Clarke stepped past Anya and opened the door, revealing Lexa. The brunette looked between Clarke and Anya as she walked into the apartment.

“You okay?” she asked Clarke causing the blonde girl to nod a little, before she turned to look at Anya, “What are you doing here?”

“I just stopped by to thank Clarke for what she did at the club,” Anya said, “I told you the other day that I wanted to thank her for it, and I was in the area so I figured I may as well do it now.”

“Right,” Lexa said, crossing her arms across her chest, “I’m guessing you’ve done that, so now you can leave.”

“I’m not your enemy Lexa,” Anya said to the brunette before she looked at Clarke, “it was nice to see you again.”

Clarke didn’t say anything as Anya walked from the apartment and closed the door behind her.

“What did she want?” Lexa asked, looking between Clarke and Octavia.

“To thank me for saving her life.” Clarke replied.

“And…?” Lexa asked.

“And nothing.” Clarke said, not wanting to tell Lexa about what else Anya had said.

Lexa looked at Octavia who just shrugged a little as she looked back at the television. Clarke smiled a little at Lexa and started to walk back to the sofa.

“Clarke…” Lexa said, reaching out and softly taking hold of Clarke’s wrist, stopping the blonde from walking away, “I need to know what she said.”

“It’s not important.” Clarke said with another soft smile as she pulled her wrist from Lexa’s hand and walked back over to the sofa, “we’re watching a movie, do you want to join us?”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Later that night Lexa was at work, she was a little surprised to see Anya there as the older girl hadn’t been back to the club since the night that Clarke had saved her life on the office table. Indra was also at the club, though she wasn’t staying in the office like she usually did. There was an air of tension, a feeling that Lexa really didn’t like, it set her on edge. Ryder, Lincoln and Echo were all again working with her behind the bar, the place was busy as usual.

Raven, Clarke, Octavia and Bellamy were all sitting at what was becoming their usual table, with Monty, Maya and Jasper.

“Anya really came to the apartment earlier?” Raven asked quietly as she leant on the table a little.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied with a nod, “telling me how Lexa and I come from two very different worlds, and how it wasn’t going to end well for either of us.”

“Sounds like a ‘stay away’ warning to me,” Bellamy said, glancing over towards the bar where Lexa was working, “so, what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” Clarke said, leaning back in her chair a little.

“Because that’s the smart thing to do here.” Raven said rolling her eyes a little, “Anya’s visit was probably the polite one, you realise that right?”

“Well technically she didn’t make any threats, or actually tell Clarke to stay away from Lexa,” Octavia said with a shrug, “she just said that Gustus had asked her to come by. There was no ‘stay away from Lexa or we’ll kill your puppy’ threats or anything…”

“We don’t have a puppy…” Clarke said with a smirk on her lips.

“You know what I mean.” Octavia said with a sigh.

“Did you tell Lexa?” Raven asked.

“Nope.” The blonde girl replied, “and before you ask, no I’m not going to. Her family already have a problem with me, me telling her what Anya said will just cause her to fly off the handle at them and that’s just going to cause more crap.”

“So you’re just going to ignore what Anya said?” Bellamy asked, looking at the blonde before glancing over at the other girl who was currently sitting in a booth not far from them, her eyes rarely straying from Clarke.

“Pretty much.” Clarke said with a nod, “my turn to get the drinks right?”

“I’ll come with you.” Raven said as Clarke stood up.

The two girls walked over to the bar, instead of Lexa serving them Lincoln walked over.

“What can I get you?” Lincoln asked with a smile.

“I’ll get their drinks,” Lexa said, walking over behind him, “I already know what they’re all drinking.”

“Okay.” Lincoln replied, glancing over to Anya as he walked away to serve the next customer.

“Fancy seeing you here.” Clarke said with a smirk.

“Weird huh,” Lexa replied shaking her head a little as she laughed, “want me to bring the drinks over?”

“We’ll wait.” Clarke said with a smile as she sat at one of the bar stools.

Raven saw Indra walk over to Anya and whisper something in the girls ear as she looked over at the bar.

“Nice to see Anya here.” Raven said, “First time since she had that fight right?”

“Yeah,” Lexa said as she went about getting the drinks for the group, “I’m really hoping it stays quiet in here tonight because if she gets caught up in the middle of anything it’ll get messy, she’s in no state to fight.”

“Why would you think it wouldn’t stay quiet?” Clarke asked, “other than that idiot getting thrown out of here last night, I don’t remember anything like that happening here.”

“There’s something going on,” the brunette replied, “I’m not sure what yet, but I’ve got an uneasy feeling. But I’ve had a weird feeling all day, so it’s probably nothing.”

“You’re probably a little worried about Anya getting into something she can’t get out of.” Raven said, glancing back at Anya who had her eyes still fixed on Clarke.

As Lexa put the drinks on two trays for them to carry back over to the table, Anya stood up and walked over to them.

“You’re becoming regulars here,” she said, leaning on the bar next to where Clarke was sitting, “this is what, the third time you’ve been in here?”

“Fourth if you include the night that I returned the cheque.” Clarke said, flashing Anya a smile before she picked up one of the trays, “Lexa, what time do you finish work?”

“About 4, I think.” Lexa replied, “By which time you’ll be passed out at home in bed.”

“Maybe,” Clarke said with a smile, “maybe not.”

Lexa laughed a little as Clarke and Raven walked back to the table, Anya watching their every move.

“Problem?” Lexa asked Anya.

“Not yet…” Anya replied with a sigh, “but you know that Gustus isn’t too happy about you seeing her.”

“It’s none of his business.” Lexa said, “it doesn’t stop me doing my job here, or doing anything else he asks me to do.”

“But it does,” the other girl said, “he asked you to stop spending so much time with her, Lexa, yet you were at her place this afternoon and now she’s here.”

“Why were you there earlier?” Lexa asked, leaning on the bar so she was a little closer to Anya, “the truth this time, none of that ‘I was thanking her for saving my life’ bullshit that you both seem to think I’m stupid enough to buy.”

“She didn’t tell you?” Anya asked, her surprise pretty evident in her voice.

“No,” Lexa replied, “she didn’t, but you will.”

“She obviously thinks you don’t need to know,” the older girl said with a small smirk, “who am I to disagree.”

“Anya…” Lexa said, her voice taking on a threatening quality which she didn’t usually take with her cousin.

The older girl smiled a little, shrugged her shoulders and walked away from the bar, going back to sit down in the booth where she had been for most of the night. As Lexa turned around to walk a little further down the bar to serve someone else, she saw Lincoln looking at her, he had obviously been watching her interaction with Anya. Instead of serving the next waiting customer she walked towards him.

“Start talking…” she said as she reached him.

“About what?” he asked, trying to keep his face as emotionless as possible.

“I can read you like a book, Lincoln,” Lexa said with a small smile, “always could. Tell me why Anya was at Clarke’s earlier.”

Lincoln sighed a little and moved to walk past her, he had no intention of telling her. Lexa grabbed his wrist as he was walking past her, her fingers pushing into the pressure point on his wrist, causing him to stop walking and grimace a little.

“Lincoln, please, tell me why she was there.” Lexa said quietly.

“You know why she was there.” He replied, “you were told that it would be in your best interests to stay away from her, and you have no intention of doing that.”

“He’s here isn’t he…” Lexa said.

“In the office,” Lincoln said with a small nod, “going over some paperwork.”

Lexa let go of Lincoln’s wrist, seeing him rub it lightly as she turned around and walked to the office. Instead of knocking on the door she opened it, pushing it hard enough that it swung back and hit the chair which was placed behind the door up against the wall, the chair which she knew Nyko would be sitting in as he wasn’t on the door that night. She didn’t look at him as she walked into the office, she kept her eyes on her uncle as she walked over to the table, only once she was standing in front of the table did she turn her head a little and look at Nyko.

“Get out.” She said.

He didn’t move, he just sat there looking at her. Lexa looked at Gustus who nodded a little to Nyko, only then did the big man behind the door leave the room, closing the door behind him.

“You sent Anya to her apartment to tell her to stay away from me?” Lexa asked, resting both her hands on the table as she spoke to her uncle.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He replied.

“Bullshit,” Lexa said, “I told you earlier, you do not get to decide who is in my life.”

“We’re not trying to do that, Lexa,” Gustus said with a smile, “we’re simply doing what we have done since the moment you came to live with us…”

“Trying to control me?” Lexa asked.

“Looking out for your best interests.” He corrected, “she doesn’t fit into our world, Lexa. The minute she sees something that she doesn’t like, she will go running to the police. If I ask you to do something that she doesn’t like, then she will turn us all in. You getting involved in any kind of a relationship with her puts us all at risk.”

“That night at Luna’s bar,” the brunette said, “she knew it was going to end badly for me, and she could’ve left me there, but she didn’t. She had someone come and get me, take me to her apartment, where she made sure I was okay. I could’ve been arrested that night, but I wasn’t, and that is down to Clarke. Do you really think that my judgement of character is that bad?”

“That was one thing,” he replied, standing up, “one night, and yes, she did the right thing. But what happens next time. What happens when you’re not the one outnumbered and you’re the one causing the damage to someone? When you’re the one putting someone in hospital, or worse, what happens then?”

“I trust her,” Lexa said calmly, “I’m not sure why, but I do. I thought that you trusted me, isn’t that why you put me in charge here, isn’t that why I’m the one you call on when you need something done that you can’t trust anyone else to do?”

“Of course I trust you,” Gustus said, “it is the young Doctor Griffin that I don’t trust.”

“She saved your daughters life, or are you forgetting that?” Lexa asked, running her hand through her hair as she got frustrated.

“Saving Anya’s life is one thing,” he said, “being in a relationship with someone who is in our line of work is something different. I have to think of everyone, not just you, not just me, everyone.”

“That’s the thing,” she said shaking her head a little, “you only ever think of yourself. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to get involved with someone who would go running to the cops at the first sign of trouble? She doesn’t ask questions, she doesn’t want to know what it is that you do or what I do…”

“And when she starts?” he asked.

“She won’t.” Lexa stated.

Gustus didn’t say anything, he just stood there looking at her. Lexa shook her head a little and turned to walk towards the door, she stopped as she reached the door and turned back.

 “I am not a child,” she said as she walked back towards him, “you can’t tell me who to have in my life and who not to. I understand that you don’t know Clarke…”

“Neither do you, that is the point I am trying to make.” He said interrupting her.

“I know enough.” Lexa replied, “she isn’t a threat to you, or this family. Please trust me on that.”

“She cannot be trusted,” Gustus said, “and when she proves that, you will be the one to deal with it.”

Lexa didn’t say anything as she turned and walked from the office.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

As the sun started to rise over the city Lexa was sitting by the river. Gustus’s words were ringing through her head. There had been talk amongst the gang members that they were growing tired of the way he ran things, he was a little too old school. Lexa knew that she had the loyalty of at least 90% of the gang, all of Gustus’s contacts knew and trusted her, she couldn’t help but think that maybe it was time for a change. It had been something that she had been thinking about for a while, but everything that had happened in the last week had brought it all to a head in her mind.

Part of her couldn’t help but think that maybe Gustus was right, she didn’t know Clarke, she had only know her for a little over a week. Lexa was pretty sure that with Clarke, what you saw was what you got, she didn’t have a darker side that Lexa didn’t know about. There was nothing hiding there that was going to jump out. She also knew that expecting Clarke to fit into her world was expecting too much. They were two very different people, opposites even.

Maybe it would be better for Clarke, safer for Clarke, if Lexa put a stop to whatever was going on between them before it got serious.

Something that she did know for certain, the next few days were going to be very interesting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay with this, my muse stopped playing ball. Really hope you enjoy this part. Lexa finally makes a decision about her future. Leave a comment, let me know what you think. Enjoy

 

Lexa had done a pretty good job at ignoring Clarke’s calls, she hadn’t wanted to let what Gustus had said to her get to her, but it had. She hadn’t known the blonde girl for long, there was no way she should be having the effect on Lexa which she was. Nobody had ever made Lexa second guess what Gustus said to her, it had always been family first, everyone else second. But Clarke had only been in her life a little over a week and she had already made Lexa question pretty much everything about her life. In the few days since she had seen Clarke, Lexa had got messages left at the bar for her from Raven and Octavia, both of them letting her know that Clarke was worried about her.

As she, Anya and Lincoln were unpacking the latest stock delivery at the bar, Lexa’s phone rang, glancing over at the caller-ID she left it ringing as she put the new beer bottles in the fridge behind the bar.

“You’re not going to get that?” Anya asked as the phone continued to ring.

“I’m a little busy.” Lexa replied not looking back at her.

“Who is it?” Lincoln asked, looking over at Anya.

“Clarke.” Anya said, looking down at the phone as she put another case of bottles on the bar, “is there a reason you’re not taking her calls? You two fighting?”

“I’m here to help unpack the delivery, not take personal calls.” Lexa said, finishing restocking the beer fridge.

“Octavia mentioned that you hadn’t talked to Clarke in a few days,” Lincoln said, walking over to the bar and looking at the younger girl, “apparently she’s called a few times and you’ve just let it ring.”

“I’ve been busy…” The brunette replied, standing up and walking over to grab the crate of bottles which Anya had left on the bar.

“Busy enough to have missed…” Anya picked up Lexa’s phone and looked at the screen, “15 of her calls, and that’s only today. What the hell is going on Lex?”

“Isn’t this what you all wanted?” Lexa asked, gripping her hands on the bar as she took a deep breath to try and calm herself down a little, “This is what Gustus wants, I’m not spending time with Clarke. Surely that makes everything easier for everyone else.”

“Since when has this life been about what’s easier?” Anya asked, jumping up to sit on the bar.

“You’re the one who went round there to warn her off, Anya.” Lexa replied, turning to look at her cousin.

“That’s true,” Anya said with a nod, “if I hadn’t done it he would’ve sent someone else. At least with me doing it I could try and limit the damage done, while still doing what was asked of me. Could you imagine what it would do to my dad to think that we’ve all stopped doing what he asks. You know he hates feeling like he isn’t in control.”

“Maybe he shouldn’t be…” Lexa mumbled, knowing from the silence around her that both Lincoln and Anya had heard her, “It’s just, maybe things will be a little easier if there was a change at the top. You can’t tell me that you haven’t thought about it, I know you’ve heard what everyone else is saying. We need to move this family forward, we’re doing nothing right now other than treading water, waiting for the next issue that we have to deal with. The Azgeda are moving closer and we’re doing nothing about it, only reacting when they attack one of ours first…”

“Do you realise what you’re saying…” Anya said, looking down at her hands.

“Yes,” Lexa replied, nodding her head a little, “I realise exactly what I’m saying. I’m not suggesting that the take-over happens in the traditional way, I would never want to hurt Gus, you know that…”

“So you just want him out of the way, not dead?” Anya asked, crossing her arms across her chest and frowning a little as she looked at Lexa.

“I just think that things could be done differently,” Lexa said with a shrug, “you know how slow business has been getting lately, we can’t expect to keep hold of what we have if we’re not willing to fight for it.”

“What do you suggest?” Lincoln asked, looking between Lexa and Anya.

“I was thinking if the three of us approached him together, talked to him, maybe he would see the benefits of stepping aside…” Lexa said, “Retire to a Caribbean Island somewhere with Indra, I don’t know…”

“And if he doesn’t?” Anya asked, “What happens when he sees this talk as a threat? What happens when he kicks us all out and it’s not safe for us to live in this part of the city anymore?”

“That won’t happen,” Lexa replied confidently, “I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, if he were to kick us out, there are people who would follow us…”

“You want this to turn into a turf war with my father?” Anya said.

“I don’t know what I want…” Lexa replied, crouching down to restock the lower shelf behind the bar.

“Clarke, Raven and Octavia are having a small gathering later, I want to call it a party but Raven says that you can’t have a party with 6 people,” Anya said, with a sigh, “I know Clarke wants you to be there.”

“I think she mentioned something about it in a text she sent…” Lexa said, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse to get out of going, “Gustus wants to see me when we’re done here, maybe there’s something he needs me to do, we’ll see what happens.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was pacing backwards and forwards in Gustus’s office, she had been a little early, but now he was running very late. She wasn’t sure whether she was going to go to the ‘gathering’ that Anya had mentioned to her, but she wanted to know she had the option. When the door finally opened and Gustus walked in, Lexa had to fight herself not to cheer sarcastically. She was still on very thin ice with her uncle, she didn’t need to give him another reason to make her life difficult.

“Sorry I’m late.” Gustus said as he sat down, motioning for Lexa to sit, to which she shook her head, “I hope you don’t have plans for later.”

“There was something that I was thinking about doing, but it was nothing solid, why? What do you need me to do?” She asked.

“I know that Indra and I agreed to you having one night a week off, time that you could have for yourself, and I know that the night you chose to take off was tonight,” he said, “but I need you to do something for me. It has been brought to my attention that there is a party taking place tonight, Anya, Lincoln and Nyko are going.”

“You can’t have a party with 6 people, apparently, I was told it would be more like a gathering.” Lexa replied, with a sigh as she rolled her eyes a little.

“So you’re aware of it?” he asked, already knowing the answer, “good, I want you to go. The young doctor probably already invited you anyway, correct?”

“So what if she did?” Lexa asked in reply, not liking where this was going.

“As you’re probably aware, one of our cover businesses was raided by the police yesterday,” Gustus said, standing up, “The café near the Medical Clinic.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” she said, her heart starting to race as she knew exactly what Gustus was implying.

“Detective Bellamy Blake was the head of the police team,” he replied, “working on a tip which he had personally received from an unnamed source. It is my understanding that he will be at the ‘gathering’ later.”

“I’m not going to be able to get him to drop the investigation,” Lexa said, “I can’t just rock up at Clarke’s for the first time in days and threaten him.”

“That’s not what I want you to do,” Gustus said, “I want you to find out who his source was. I have a feeling that whoever it was is somehow connected to his inner circle, which means Raven, Octavia and your friend Clarke. I’m not asking you to get him to drop the investigation, that’s as good as admitting guilt before anything has been said. Just talk to him, talk to the girls.”

“If Anya, Lincoln and Nyko are going, why do you need me to go?” she asked, furrowing her brow a little, “Surely they can talk to Bellamy…”

“They could, but they’re not going to get the same level of openness as you will,” Gustus explained, “for whatever reason, Bellamy Blake helped you away from Luna’s Bar…”

“How…” Lexa started to ask.

“How I know that is not important,” he continued, “but it happened. Even Raven seems to trust you again after the whole information incident.”

“And if I can’t find out?” she asked.

“Then I will find another way.” Gustus said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa had knocked on the door to Clarke’s apartment, while waiting for someone to answer, she went over and over in her head what she could say when someone asked her why she was there. Bellamy opened the door, a slight look of surprise in his eyes when he saw Lexa, a piece of pizza hanging from his mouth. Instead of saying anything, Bellamy motioned for Lexa to come in. Out of all the possible outcomes she had considered to how whoever answered the door would react, the way Bellamy reacted hadn’t even made it onto the list. She walked into the living room area, noticing pretty quickly how everyone dropped into a silence as she walked in.

“Well look who it is.” Anya said with a smirk as she looked at Lexa.

“Not that I’m exactly surprised, but why are you here Lexa?” Octavia asked, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at Lexa.

Before Lexa could give one of her very rehearsed replies, she felt a tension settle over the room as everyone turned to look at someone who was standing behind Lexa.

“I invited her.” Clarke said as she walked through the living room area to the kitchen.

That seemed to be enough of a good enough answer to get everyone to go back to whatever it was they had been doing, and stop looking at her. While everyone was talking amongst themselves Lexa made her way to where Clarke was, grabbing a bag of chips from the cupboard.

“Thank you for the invite.” Lexa said as she rested her back against the island in the kitchen, standing so she was facing Clarke.

“I really wasn’t expecting you to come,” Clarke replied, closing the cupboard before she turned and looked at Lexa, “I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised, you always seem to do something that I never expect you to do, so why should this be different…”

“Clarke…” Lexa started to say.

“No, it’s fine,” the blonde said shaking her head a little, “you were feeling torn between me and your family, I get it. I just didn’t expect you to cut me out completely.”

“Clarke,” Lexa said stepping closer to the blonde, “let me explain…”

“Maybe later.” Clarke replied, stepping away from Lexa and walking towards her room.

Lexa let out a sigh as she watched Clarke walk away, her attention was drawn by Bellamy clearing his throat. She looked over at him.

“Give her a little time,” he said with a slightly lopsided smile, “she just needs to come round to the idea that you’re actually here. She really didn’t think you were going to show.”

“Well she invited me, and I had the night off,” Lexa replied with a slight shrug, “if it’s a problem that I’m here, I can leave…”

“You leave now and you’ll never get through that door again,” Raven said from where she was sitting on the sofa next to Nyko, showing him how to fly the new remote controlled helicopter she had built, “This is your last chance, you don’t have any do-overs here. Get it right, or fuck it up. One or the other, but this is the last time. So, if you know you’re going to fuck it up, you might as well leave now, it’ll save everyone a lot of trouble in the long run.”

Lexa looked at the apartment door, she knew exactly how many steps it would take to get her there.

“Don’t even think about it.” Octavia said quietly from where she was now standing next to Lexa.

“It would make everything easier.” Lexa replied just as quietly, with a sigh as she looked between Octavia and the door.

“Easier for who? You?” The younger girl asked, “Because it won’t make it easier of any of us. If you’re going to run now you shouldn’t have even bothered coming. She was so sure you weren’t going to show, she wasn’t even going to invite you until me and Raven pushed her into it…”

“Why did you care if I was here?” Lexa asked, her emotionless mask now firmly in place.

“I didn’t, not really,” Octavia replied with a shrug, “it would have been easier if you weren’t. I might not have really cared whether you were here, but Clarke did. If you want something, fight for it. Sure it might not be easy, nothing ever is, but would it be worth it if it was easy? I don’t particularly like you…”

“Really? I would never have guessed; you’ve done such an amazing job at hiding it.” Lexa replied sarcastically.

“I don’t trust you,” Octavia continued, nothing but a roll of her eyes to indicate that she had even heard what Lexa said, “one way or another you’ll hurt Clarke in the long run, I know that, but unfortunately that’s one of those things she has to learn on her own. And until that time comes and you rip her heart out, or you get yourself into some fight you can’t win and it’s something that you don’t survive, and Clarke is the one who has to pick up the pieces and move on, I’ll be right here playing the supportive friend. She really likes you, try to not fuck her up too much.”

With that Octavia walked away from where Lexa was standing, moving to take a seat next to Lincoln. As Lexa looked around the room she saw that both sides of her life could co-exist if they had to. Her family were happily spending time with Clarke’s friends, well Lincoln was happy, Lexa was sure that Anya was just tolerating everyone. One of the fears which she held about a relationship with Clarke was that those two parts of her life could ever co-exist side by side. She looked from the group to Clarke’s bedroom, the bedroom door was open and Lexa could see the lights were off, but the pattern of light coming through the door let her know that Clarke was probably watching a movie or something.

“Remember if you leave, you can’t come back.” Raven said as she saw Lexa start to walk towards the main door of the apartment.

Lexa took her jacket off and walked over to Raven, laying the jacket over the back of the sofa where the other girl was sitting.

“Is that supposed to mean something?” Raven asked, looking at the jacket before she looked back at Lexa.

“That jacket cost me more than you pay for a month’s rent in this place,” Lexa said, “I’m not going anywhere without it.”

“Your terms are acceptable.” Raven replied, her eyes narrowed a little.

“Well thank goodness for that, now I have your permission…” Lexa said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head a little as she walked towards Clarke’s room.

When she reached Clarke’s room she pushed the door open a little more fully and leant against the door frame. Clarke didn’t look at her, but Lexa could tell from the way the blonde’s body tensed up slightly, she knew Lexa was there.

“Spending a party in your room isn’t a good thing.” Lexa said from the doorway.

“Isn’t a party with 6 people…” Clarke replied, not taking her eyes from the television screen.

“If you count me and you, there’s 8,” Lexa said, “that stops it being a gathering.”

Clarke slowly let out a sigh, narrowing her eyes as she kept looking at the screen.

“Should I just leave?” Lexa asked with a sigh of her own.

“Is that what you want?” The blonde asked after a few moments of silence.

“What I want isn’t important.” Lexa replied quietly, so quietly that Clarke almost missed it.

“What you want is important to me…” Clarke said, glancing back at where Lexa was standing.

“Then no, I don’t want to leave.” Lexa said, looking over at the blonde, “but I do need to apologise.”

“For what?” Clarke asked, sitting up a little on the bed, indicating for Lexa to take a seat near her legs.

“Not answering your calls, not returning your calls, not replying to your texts…” Lexa said as she sat down.

“Oh, right, you mean that thing you were doing where you pretended I completely fell off the face of the planet.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“Yes,” Lexa replied, “I kind of freaked out…”

“You think?” The blonde asked with a smirk.

“I can usually control most things in my life, Clarke,” Lexa explained, “I can usually figure out pretty quickly what is happening and where something is going. But then you come along and everything I think I know about where I want my life to go is thrown up in the air. Someone basically helped me to remember something which I already knew, I won’t fit in your world, and you won’t survive in mine…”

“And that’s a decision you came to on your own?” Clarke said, walking over to the door and closing it, knowing that everyone in the living room area would be wanting to hear what they were talking about, “Did it ever cross your mind that I might be able to make that choice for myself? You start to let me in, and the next thing I know you’ve cut me out completely.”

“Because it is the safest thing to do.” Lexa answered quietly, looking down at her hands, “these last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet, nothing much for me to do for Gustus, but that isn’t going to last. One way or another something will change. I can’t tell you everything that I’d be doing, I wouldn’t even be able to tell you where I was or if I’d be home that night…”

Clarke opened her mouth to say something, Lexa stopped her, raising her hand slightly.

“Let me get this out, please,” she said, to which Clarke nodded as she walked back over to the bed, “Clarke, I couldn’t even tell you if I’d survive the night. Every time I went to work, or left the house, said goodbye to you, might be the last time I’d ever do it. I cannot leave you with a simple goodbye while you wondered if you’d see me again, that wouldn’t be fair on you. I really like you and because of that I’m saying this can’t happen, I can’t ask you to live your life like that.”

“How I choose to live my life isn’t your problem, Lexa,” Clarke said, “it’s up to me. I’ve spent too long making the safe choices, sticking with the same guy through med-school when I was pretty sure he was cheating on me for most it because it was the safe option. The first time I met you, you told me that an accident at work had caused you a dislocated shoulder, I knew at that moment that whatever you did for work wasn’t exactly safe. It didn’t stop me from wanting to see you again…”

“Clarke…” Lexa said, looking at her again.

“It’s my turn to say what I need to say,” the blonde replied, interrupting her, “The first time I saw you after that, you were asking me to save Anya’s life on a table in an office. I didn’t know the first thing about what happened to her, I didn’t even know who she was, but I knew she was important to you, and for some reason that mattered to me. I didn’t turn and run, I probably should have cause god knows you’re a pain in the ass…”

Lexa couldn’t stop the small laugh that escaped her.

“I had so many people telling me how much of a bad idea it was,” Clarke continued, “all of them telling me that I really didn’t want to get mixed up with that, that it would be a bad thing in the long run. But even with all of them telling me, I still couldn’t stop myself from starting to really like you. Seeing how you are with Tris was really surprising, it made me really see that you weren’t the person you want everyone to think you are.”

“Who we are, and who we have to be too survive are two very different things…” Lexa said.

“Lexa, you don’t need to protect me,” Clarke replied, “I know what I’m getting into, I’m walking into it with both eyes open. You’ve never tried to shield me from what you do, please don’t start now. I want you in my life, Lexa, and not just as the seriously hot girl who serves me drinks at a club.”

“A club that you haven’t been to for a few nights.” Lexa said.

“Yeah, it’s not really that much of a fun place to hang out when all you want to do is make-out with the barmaid…” Clarke said, trying not to react too much to the fact that the distance between her and Lexa was growing shorter.

“I’ll be sure to let Echo know you’re interested…” Lexa replied, her eyes flicking from Clarke’s eyes to her lips.

“Would you?” Clarke asked with a smirk, her lips ghosting over Lexa’s, “that’d be great.”

Clarke wasn’t sure who had taken that final step, but as Lexa softly kissed her she found herself unable to form any sort of coherent thought in her head. To say she was slightly confused when Lexa backed away a little would be an understatement.

“I just want to clarify something…” Lexa said as Clarke looked at her questioningly, “you’re not really interested in Echo, right…”

Clarke shook her head and laughed a little as she closed the distance between their lips again.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

About half an hour later Lexa and Clarke left the blonde’s bedroom, ignoring the looks they were getting from their friends. The only seat left untaken was one of the oversized chairs. Lexa didn’t hesitate in sitting in it, an amused look crossing her face as Clarke looked around for somewhere to sit. As the blonde’s eyes landed on Lexa, the brunette arched her eyebrow a little and motioned for Clarke to join her. As Clarke sat down on Lexa’s lap, the other girl softly putting her arms around her waist, neither of them noticed the small smile on Raven’s lips as she looked down at the helicopter she was resetting.

“Called it.” She said, holding her hand out, Clarke and Lexa laughed a little as everyone else put a $10 bill in her hand, “pleasure doing business with you all, call again soon.”

“You all seem to be taking this remarkably well, all things considered.” Lexa said as Clarke relaxed a little more.

“I have to admit, back when Tris told me you had a new friend, I figured this was doomed to failure,” Anya said, looking over at where her cousin was sitting with the blonde, “figured that once Clarke realised exactly what it was you did that she’d run anyway, most people would, which would totally fuck you up. I’ve seen you go off the deep-end before, I don’t want to have to watch that again. But once I talked to her, I realised it wasn’t going to matter what I said to her, she wouldn’t listen.”

“What exactly did you say to her, no one will tell me.” Lexa replied, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Well there were no threats,” Anya said with a shrug, “no point wasting the good stuff,”

“She thanked me for saving her life.” Clarke said with a small smile as she looked back at Lexa.

“And…?” Lexa asked.

“And nothing,” the blonde replied, “it’s not important.”

“So what happens now?” Lincoln asked, “it’s pretty clear we’re all in favour of this relationship, but we all know my parents aren’t exactly thrilled about it.”

“I say, who cares what they think…” Lexa replied honestly, “I think it’s time we stopped living our lives to please them, and fight for what we want.”

“Not to put a downer on this,” Raven said looking around the group, “you think Gustus and Indra are going to be bad, someone needs to tell Abby.”

“Can I do it?” Anya asked, “Please?”

“I’ll do it,” Lexa said, “she hates me anyway, not like it can get much worse.”

“She’s a doctor,” Bellamy said as he laughed, “she could find ways to kill you that would look like an accident.”

“Good point,” she said with a nod, “Anya, you can do it.”

“She doesn’t hate you, Lexa,” Clarke said with a laugh, “she just doesn’t know you. The only time she’s really met you was that night when you were telling everyone what to do, after Anya got hurt. All she knows is the Lexa who is a gang member, she hasn’t seen the Lexa who plays ball in the park with Tris, the Lexa who stopped a guy hitting on me cause she knew I wasn’t comfortable with it…”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not why she stopped him.” Anya said, earning herself a cushion to the head, curtesy of Raven.

“Anyway,” Clarke said as Anya slumped back into the sofa, a pout on her face, “just let her see the Lexa we all know, let her see the Lexa I know…”

“We want her liking Lexa,” Octavia said with a shrug, finally joining in the conversation, though Lexa already knew her views, “then Lexa just needs to show her how far she’s willing to go to keep Clarke safe, Abby will be putty in her hands after that.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As the night wore on, Lexa found herself silent most of the time, she was just watching everyone else. The only time Clarke had moved from her lap was when the blonde girl went to get another bottle of wine from the kitchen, sitting herself straight back down with the brunette when she returned. Things were still a little strange, but the talk they’d had helped them start to move forward. Before that night Lexa wasn’t sure if there even was a forward for them, but Clarke seemed to think there was, and Lexa was more than willing to try. She had found out that Bellamy’s anonymous source was in fact anonymous, he had no idea who it had been. He explained to her that it had come in to the dedicated gang hotline. He also told her that there was nothing concrete linking her family to the café. Lexa knew the evidence would be there if Bellamy looked hard enough, she was tempted to tell him just where he could get enough evidence from, but she didn’t. She just nodded a little when he said that if anything changed then he would let her know.

When Clarke asked Bellamy what he and Lexa had been talking about, he had told her that it wasn’t important, just something that he and Lexa needed to discuss. She hadn’t really bought his explanation, but she didn’t want to push it either. Lexa was getting a glass of water from the kitchen when Clarke walked up behind her.

“What were you and Bellamy talking about?” Clarke asked, leaning next to the sink.

“When?” Lexa asked in reply as she looked at Clarke.

“Earlier,” the blonde said, “when I was getting the wine.”

Lexa knew she had two choices, two very clear choices, she could tell Clarke the truth, or she could lie.

“I was asking him if he had any information about a tip that he got the other day,” Lexa said honestly, “one of our cover businesses was raided, I just wondered if they found anything.”

“So the fact that I invited you isn’t the only reason you’re here.” Clarke replied, her eyes finding Lexa’s.

“I didn’t even know if Bellamy would be here…” Lexa said, realising that if she wanted Clarke to trust her, and not destroy all progress that she’d made in the previous few hours, her best shot was honesty, “I knew there was a chance he would be.”

Clarke nodded a little.

“The café was down near the Medical Clinic,” Lexa continued, “Gustus thought that maybe… well he implied that you could be involved, or he believed you were anyway. That is the only way he could get me to come here. I had to prove to him that you weren’t involved…”

“Prove to him or yourself?” Clarke asked.

“I trust you, Clarke.” Lexa answered quietly.

“So when does this living for what you want thing you were talking about start?” the blonde asked, “When do you start fighting for what you want, Lexa?”

“It started the moment I realised that what I wanted was worth fighting for.” Lexa replied.

“Seriously,” Octavia said walking into the kitchen area behind them, “you sure that you’re some badass scary gangster?”

“O…” Clarke said, looking around Lexa to her friend.

“What?” Octavia asked with a shrug, “you think anyone out there is going to believe that Lexa Trikru is a romantic at heart? You’d be able to hear the Azgeda laughing from their base when they heard that. It’s enough to make me want to vomit.”

“You need this relationship to succeed, O…” Clarke said with a small smile, “if this fails you and Lincoln have no chance.”

“You think I’m going to let some washed out mafia guy keep me from what I want?” Octavia said, “not likely Princess.”

Lexa couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her at the look on Octavia’s face, she was looking at Clarke like she was crazy.

“Sorry,” The younger girl said as she looked at Lexa, “no offence, I mean I’m sure you’re uncle is all scary and badass, but nothing gets between me and what I want.”

“No offence taken.” Lexa replied with a laugh, “he’ll probably be a little more… relaxed about who Lincoln decides to date. He was always a lot more protective of me and Anya when it came to relationships. He thinks that he’s doing us a favour, he’s really not.”

“You’d think he would have learnt that by now.” Anya said, walking up behind Octavia.

“Well if you don’t take a stand for what you want, then he’s going to keep doing it.” Octavia said, “basic controlling behaviour. It’s the way people train puppies, take away something they really like every time they do something wrong, they’ll eventually realise what it is they’ve done wrong, and realise if they do it, they lose what they really like.”

“You’re saying we’re like puppies?” Anya asked as she looked at Octavia, before she looked at Lexa, “she must be talking about you.”

“I’m saying that you both need to stand up to him,” Octavia said rolling her eyes, “you can’t live your life for yourself, if you allow someone else to have that much control over your life, down to telling you who you should and shouldn’t fall for. That is a choice you have to make for yourself. Who are you living for when that basic choice is taken from you…”

“Even if doing that could cause him to kick us out, turn his back on us?” Lexa said, her brow furrowed a little.

“If that happens, you always know that you’re not going to be alone. You have people who care about you,” Octavia said, looking between them, “not because you’re hard-core and we want people beaten up. We don’t care about what you do; we care about who you are. I’ll be honest, I thought that anything happening between Lexa and Clarke would end badly for everyone, I still do. But Raven made me realise something, the only difference between their relationship and my relationship with Lincoln, and that’s Lexa’s inclination towards violence. Let’s be honest, Lincoln would much rather talk out an issue than fight out an issue…”

Both Lexa and Anya nodded in agreement.

“But, yeah,” Octavia said, rubbing the back of her neck as she did when she was really uncomfortable, “I guess what I’m trying to say is, maybe you’re not that bad…”

Octavia nodded a little as she turned and walked away from the kitchen area.

“What would happen if he kicked you both out?” Clarke asked, looking between Lexa and Anya, “Would he just let you walk away?”

“It doesn’t really work that way, Clarke.” Lexa replied with a small smile as she looked at the blonde.

“There is a chance it could,” Anya said with a sigh, “it would be nice to think it could.”

“Yeah,” the other brunette replied, “it would be nice, but it’s not realistic. Gang members have been killed for less. You know you can’t just wake up one day and leave…”

“Blood in,” Clarke said, recalling something that Raven had said to her, “blood out…”

“You don’t really hear about too many ex-gang members for a reason,” Lexa said with a nod, “Luna is the only one I can think of who has survived the… transition, relatively intact.”

“And even then she still does work for my dad…” Anya added.

“So what happens?” the blonde asked, “Worst case scenario.”

“You really want to know?” Lexa asked in reply.

“I need to know,” Clarke said with a small nod, taking Lexa’s hands in her own and looking down at them, “you might not be able to tell me if you’ll make it back alive, but you can at least tell me what the worst outcome would be, so I can prepare… or some such shit.”

“Okay,” Lexa replied softly, “the worst case scenario is that he lets us leave…”

“Why would that be the worst thing?” Clarke asked.

“Because we’d forever be looking over our shoulders,” Anya replied, saving Lexa the job of putting it into words, “if we’re lucky he’ll give us a head-start… if we’re not… it probably won’t come to that though.”

“There is one thing we can do to avoid it.” Lexa said knowingly as she looked at Anya.

“Can you say with total confidence that enough people would follow you away from my father?” Anya asked, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Lexa, “Can you tell me without question that enough people will follow you that you aren’t just throwing lives away, on yet another turf war that can’t be won?”

“They wouldn’t be following me,” Lexa replied, “they would be following us.”

“No kid,” Anya said, shaking her head a little, “they’d be following you, we would be following you.”

“If enough people do follow, it may be enough to make Gustus realise that he has a peaceful out to all this, he can just leave…” Lexa said, running through scenario’s in her head, “he may want to avoid too many deaths…”

“And if he doesn’t?” Clarke asked.

“Then I’m fighting for what I want…” Lexa said with a small smile as she looked at Clarke, “and that’s something that I don’t want to give up on so quickly…”

“And that is my cue to leave.” Anya said with a mock gagging noise as she walked from the kitchen area.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“So…” Raven said to Anya as the other girl sat on the sofa, “she decided what she’s going to do yet?”

“I seriously think she would fight.” Anya replied, her eyes fixed on where Lexa and Clarke were talking in the kitchen.

“And are you going to tell him?” Raven asked, causing Anya to look at her, “that is why you’re here, right…?”

“I’m here because you and Octavia asked me to be,” Anya answered, “why would you think I was here for another reason?”

“Well me and O only asked you last night,” Raven said, with a shrug, “and then tonight Lexa actually turns up. I figured that telling you about it would increase the chances that she’d be here, you proved me right. I overheard Lexa and Bellamy talking about some tip source and realised that maybe she had other reasons to be here too. It isn’t much of a leap to the idea that maybe you have other reasons to be here…”

When Anya didn’t reply Raven sighed.

“How wrong am I not?” she asked Anya.

“He mentioned that he didn’t believe that Clarke and Lexa hadn’t seen each other,” Anya said, turning her attention back to the two girls, “he wanted me to let him know what happened when Lexa got here, and he also wanted me to tell him how likely it was that Lexa would turn on him.”

“So now you go running back to daddy and tell him what?” Raven asked, fighting to keep her temper under control, “You tell him that it’s pretty damned likely that Lexa is going to turn on him.”

“He already knows that,” Anya replied quietly, “he wouldn’t have sent me here otherwise.”

“What do you mean by that?” the other girl asked.

“Tonight was her night off from the bar,” Anya explained, “something that she asked for after the last blow-up she had with my parents about her relationship with Clarke. He knew he could get Lexa to come here, by wanting her to talk to Bellamy about the raid. He knew that she would be more likely to mention something about her plans if she was relaxed, having me here with everyone would have made it a little easier for her to relax. He knows if Lexa walks away he can’t stop her, if he tries it would cause a rift in the family, a split in numbers. There are more people who respect her, than there are who fear him. Getting me to come here means he sees her as a real threat. It’s why she’s still working at the bar, it’s why my father tries to keep Lexa busy…”

“And now you can tell me what you’re going to tell him.” Raven replied.

“Nothing…” Anya said, “I’m going to tell him nothing. He’s my father, but she’s also my family. I will not be the one who gives him the proof he needs to make the biggest mistake of his life. And maybe Lexa’s right… maybe it is time to start living my life for myself, rather than pleasing my parents.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was standing next to the window, getting some fresh air, when Bellamy walked up next to her.

“You do have another option you know.” He said, loud enough for only her to hear him.

“And what might that be Detective Blake?” Lexa asked, glancing over at him before she looked back out of the window.

“You could give me what I need to bring him down.” Bellamy replied, “work with me rather than against me, Lexa.”

“I work with you to bring him down, and then what?” Lexa asked, “Then my life would still be in danger because I worked with you. I do not see what I would gain.”

“You would gain your freedom, your life.” He said.

“For how long, Bellamy?” Lexa asked in reply, the volume of her voice rising a little, “until I’m walking down the street one day and someone decides now is the right time for me to pay for what I did? What good would it do me to help you bring him down, when I would spend the rest of my life running?”

“Hey…” Clarke said, walking up behind them, “everything okay over here?”

When Bellamy didn’t answer her, Clarke looked at Lexa. The brunette clenched her jaw and rolled her eyes a little.

“Everything is fine.” She replied with a sigh.

“You do have other options, Lexa,” Bellamy said as he turned to walk away, “you don’t have to run.”

“What was that all about?” Clarke asked Lexa as she watched Bellamy walking away.

“Detective Blake was just reminding me that I have another option when it comes to my uncle.” Lexa replied honestly, the tone of her voice letting Clarke know that she didn’t really see it as a viable option.

“And what did Detective Blake say this other option was?” Clarke asked as she nudged Lexa’s arm a little, causing a small smile to creep onto the brunette’s lips.

“I could give him what he needs to bring him down,” Lexa said, “turn police informant. In return for my freedom, I could give them exactly what they need to put my uncle away for a very long time…”

“Why wouldn’t that work?” Clarke asked, her tone turning a little more serious.

“Because the freedom they’re offering means disappearing from my current life and starting a new somewhere else,” Lexa answered, “as someone else. But it wouldn’t help, it would only delay the inevitable. I’m his niece, Clarke, I’m not some low level runner who can give up a tiny amount of information, I can destroy everything that he is. Once he even suspects that’s happening I’m a dead woman walking.”

“Okay, which of the options that you have has the higher probability of you living through it?” Clarke said, her brow furrowed as she finally realised the enormity of what Lexa had told her.

“I could run before he realises that something isn’t right,” Lexa said, her eyes fixed on the view from the window, “just up and go, but I would need to plan it all out, have some kind of back-up in place. Planning everything would take time, time I don’t have. I am hoping that when I walk away enough people decide to follow, if we pose enough of a threat, my uncle could be convinced to disappear peacefully… that would probably be the one most likely to keep me alive.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Clarke said with a nod.

“Clarke, I…” Lexa started to say.

“If you think that’s the one more likely to keep you alive, then that’s the option we take.” The blonde said.

“I am not…” the brunette said.

“I know you’re not asking,” Clarke said, interrupting her again, “I’m telling…”

“It’s going to be dangerous, whatever happens.” Lexa said, closing her eyes as she felt Clarke’s arms circle her waist from behind, “it’s not going to be easy…”

“Nothing with you is ever easy,” Clarke said with a small laugh, “why should this be any different.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa is forced to put her plan into action a little sooner than she had hoped when Gustus forces her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part was fun to write, I didn't actually realise how long it had got, but it seemed to come to a natural end point. Really hope you enjoy it, don't forget to drop me a comment, let me know what you think.

 

A couple of days had passed, and though Lexa was still working at the bar and working for Gustus, things had started to change. Little by little Anya, Lincoln and Nyko had set the plan in motion. The four of them had agreed that, as Gustus was already keeping his eye on Lexa it would be safer and easier for everyone if the other three were the ones talking to other gang members, testing out the waters so to speak. Lexa needed to know that she wasn’t going to be standing alone as she turned her back on her aunt and uncle, so far the signs were looking promising.

Lexa knew she was going to have to talk to Luna herself, it wasn’t something that she could get any of the others to do for her, mainly because she was sure Luna would kick her ass if she did. Anya and Lincoln were going with her, as was Clarke. Luna had yet to meet the blonde girl, but Lexa knew that Tris would have told her mother about her, and if Lexa’s plan was going to work she would need everyone in it together.

The bar was closed as Lexa sat at one of the tables with Clarke, Lincoln and Anya. Luna was getting everyone a drink before she walked back over to where they were all sitting and put the tray down on the table.

“Not that I don’t like having you all here,” Luna said, looking around the table at Lexa, Lincoln and Anya, “and not that it isn’t great to finally meet Lexa’s friend, Doctor Clarke… but what’s this all about?”

Everyone looked at Lexa, obviously expecting her to take the lead on this.

“Luna, you’ve known me pretty much my whole life,” Lexa said, “you’re as much my family as Lincoln and Anya are, and you know that I would protect Tris with my life…”

“What have you done this time, Lex?” Luna asked with a small smile.

“Nothing,” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, “yet… I’m not sure how much you know about what’s been going on lately, with Gustus and the family… Business is struggling, we’re losing ground, just a few days ago one of the cover businesses was raided and everything is pointing to the Azgeda calling the cops. Gustus is refusing to do anything about it. He’s happy to just sit back and take everything that’s going on, sending me out to do the shitty clean-up jobs…”

“What are you asking me to do?” Luna asked.

“Right now, nothing,” Lexa said, “but I need to know where your loyalties lie…”

“You’re going to challenge him?” The older girl asked in reply.

“I can’t just sit by and watch as this all falls apart,” Lexa said with a sigh, “I can’t just walk away either.”

“And this has got nothing to do with his disliking of your relationship with the pretty blonde?” Luna said motioning over to Clarke, “this is not some teenage rebellion coming a few years too late?”

“You forgetting that time when she was 13 and she ran away?” Anya asked Luna with a smirk, “We couldn’t find her for 2 days, and that was all because Gustus wouldn’t let her take up kick-boxing.”

“Or that time when she was 7 and put that war-paint on her face and stalked through the house towards Gustus’s office, whispering she was going to end his fight?” Lincoln asked, causing Clarke to laugh as Lexa blushed a little.

“Hate you all…” she mumbled.

“You obviously don’t, or we wouldn’t be here,” Luna said with a small smile, “have you considered all your options? This isn’t going to be as easy as walking into his office and telling him you quit, you know that right?”

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod, “I know that. Lincoln, Anya and Nyko have already been talking to people they trust, we’re starting to get the numbers…”

“And what are you going to do about a base,” Luna said, “you can’t use Grounders, unless you’re planning to take that away from him as well.”

“Technically,” Anya said, “on paper, that business belongs to the three of us, not him.”

“You’re going to pull legal ownership rights in the middle of a turf war?” Luna asked in disbelief, “because that’s what you’re heading for here. You get this wrong… a lot of people stand to lose a lot.”

“I’m hoping it won’t come to that,” Lexa replied, “if we get the numbers, make him see that it’s in his best interests to just walk away…”

“You know you’re next in line to replace him,” Luna said to Lexa, “he’s been talking about it for a while. And you two…”

She looked at Anya and Lincoln.

“He’s your dad.” She said.

“He’s also sitting back and doing nothing as people who are loyal to him are getting beaten or worse,” Anya said, “yes he’s my dad, yes I love him, but… this is our life. He brought us into this family, all of us, trained us, trusted us. He’ll be dead before the years end if he keeps going the way he is, at least this way he has the option of walking away. Letting Lexa take over will be the best thing for everyone, we’re not losing to the Azgeda, everything stays within the family…”

“And what do you think about this Clarke?” Luna asked the blonde, “I mean, I know you’ve only been around this kind of thing for a couple of weeks, but I’m sure you have an opinion.”

 

“I think it’s time that Lexa, Anya and Lincoln started living for themselves and not someone else,” Clarke replied, causing a small smile to tug at Lexa’s lips, “I know how dangerous this is, but if they don’t do it now, it’ll get worse for everyone in the long run.”

Luna smiled a little as she nodded, before she leant back in her chair, looking at the four of them.

“There’s an empty warehouse next to Raven’s garage,” she said, “I own the building, don’t ask me how, I just do. Nobody knows, not Gustus, not Indra. It’s yours.”

“Thank you…” Lexa said with a smile.

“I would ask that you keep me out of this,” Luna said, “but I know that’s not going to happen, so what I will ask… Keep Tris out of this.”

“Done,” Lexa replied with a nod, “you know I would do anything for that kid…”

“I know.” Luna said with a smile, “So, how’re you going to tell him?”

“I was thinking about calling a meeting,” Lexa said, looking at Anya and Lincoln, “or the three of us could do it. Not at the house though, that’s too much of a risk. At the club maybe. Get everything out in the open, tell Gustus what’s going to happen, leave the next move up to him.”

“What’s going to happen afterwards,” Luna said, “assuming he either walks away, or this comes to some kind of other conclusion. The businesses, his contacts, his runners…”

“His contacts all know and respect Lexa,” Anya replied, “she’s been dealing with them for him for the last few years, so that shouldn’t be a problem. The businesses should follow suit. The runners and everything else will go where the money and the merchandise is.”

“Have you considered calling a meeting with Nia?” Luna asked.

“Who’s Nia?” Clarke asked, looking at Lexa.

“She’s the leader of the Azgeda,” Lexa replied, “though her son, Roan deals with most of the day to day stuff as far as I know. He’s a pain in the ass…”

“A temporary cooling of the turf war between the Azgeda and your people would make this whole thing a lot easier,” Luna said to Lexa, “say you walk away, take the numbers with you, then what? You’ll be dealing with the Azgeda and Gustus. Plus a split in this family will leave everything open, Nia may take advantage of that weakness.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start getting a meeting with her,” Lexa said with a sigh, “think she’d appreciate a beaten up messenger?”

“That might send the wrong message.” Clarke said with a small laugh, causing Lexa to shrug.

“Not like I’m wanting to be her friend.” The other girl replied.

“I’ll talk to her,” Luna said, causing everyone to look at her, “what? This place is neutral ground; you think I don’t have people within the Azgeda who come here regularly.”

At that moment the side door of the bar opened and Tris walked in, throwing her school bag behind the bar before she saw everyone.

“Lexa, Clarke,” she said, running over to the table, “you’re here.”

Lexa smiled as she picked Tris up and sat her on her knee.

“How was school, kid?” Lexa asked.

“Good.” Tris replied with a nod.

“Hit anyone in the face?” Clarke asked.

“Not today.” The younger girl said with a smile as she looked at Clarke.

“That’s an improvement.” Clarke replied with a laugh.

“Can we go for milkshake?” Tris asked, looking behind her to Lexa before looking at Clarke.

“Do you have any homework?” Luna asked.

“Nope,” Tris said shaking her head, “we’re getting that on Friday.”

“So you’ve got no homework, and you’ve been good since I last saw you?” Lexa asked her.

“Yes,” Tris said, before thinking about it, “apart from that one-time yesterday when I pushed Jackson over in the school yard because he was being mean, but I didn’t get into trouble for that, even though he did cry. He’s cries a lot.”

“Isn’t that the same kid you hit in the face with a lunch-tray?” Lexa asked.

“Yep.” Tris nodded.

“And what did he do that was mean this time?” Clarke asked, fighting to keep the amusement out of her voice.

“He tried to kiss me.” Tris replied, screwing her face up, which caused everyone to laugh.

“That’s it,” Luna said shaking her head as she laughed, “my kid has been spending way too much time around you, Lex.”

“Meaning?” Lexa asked, trying and failing to sound outraged.

“Pushing boys over just cause they try to kiss her.” Luna said, arching her eyebrow a little.

“She’s 8, that’s what 8 year olds do.” Lexa replied.

“Boys are icky.” Tris said, before looking at Lincoln, “but not you, I like you.”

“I agree completely,” Lexa said with a nod, “boys are icky.”

“Some boys are icky.” Clarke countered, smirking as Lexa looked at her.

“Lincoln’s not icky, Bellamy isn’t icky…” Tris said.

“Bellamy is a teddy bear.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“You have my 8-year-old daughter associating with Police Detectives?” Luna asked as she looked at Lexa.

“That would be me, actually,” Lincoln replied, “that day I picked Tris up from school, we stopped off for ice cream on the way home, Bellamy was at the Dropship.”

“See,” Lexa said with a smile, “not everything is my fault.”

“So,” Clarke said, looking at Tris, “milkshake?”

The younger girl jumped down off Lexa’s knee and ran towards the door.

“Let me know when you’re calling the meeting,” Luna said as Lexa and Clarke stood up, “I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks.” Lexa said with a smile, “That means a lot.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“What did you learn today in school, Tris?” Clarke asked as the three of them walked to the Dropship, Tris standing between Lexa and Clarke, holding their hands as they walked.

“We learnt that dinosaurs all died away because a rock fell on them…” Tris said, “must have been a really big rock…”

“Did you know, if a T-Rex falls over, it can’t get back up,” Lexa said looking down at Tris, “it’s arms are too small.”

“Is that true?” Clarke asked as she looked at Lexa.

“Yeah,” the other girl replied with a nod, “saw it on National Geographic once…”

“You watch documentaries?” The blonde girl asked with a smile.

“Don’t judge me,” Lexa said with a smirk, “I find all the shi… stuff fascinating.”

Tris stopped, causing the other two girls to stop as well.

“What’s the matter?” Lexa asked, looking down at her.

“How would they scratch their heads?” Tris asked.

“That’s a good question,” Lexa said, furrowing her brow a little, “I’ve never thought about it…”

“Maybe it asked one of it’s little friends to climb up and scratch it’s head for it.” Clarke said with a shrug, causing both Lexa and Tris to look at her, “what?”

“T-Rex didn’t have any friends,” Tris said, “it would eat them all…”

“What’s your favourite dinosaur, Tris?” Lexa asked as they started walking again.

“Triceratops.” Tris said with a nod.

“That’s the one with three horn things on it’s head right?” Clarke asked, looking down at Tris who nodded.

“Very scientific description there Doctor Griffin.” Lexa said with a laugh.

“I’m a medical doctor,” Clarke said with a smile, “not a scientist.”

“Technically scientists don’t study dinosaurs,” Lexa said with a smirk, “palaeontologists do.”

“Oh shut up.” Clarke replied with a laugh.

“What’s your favourite dinosaur, Lexa?” Tris asked.

“I have two,” Lexa replied, “The Iguanodon which was this huge herbivore that walked around on all fours, but could use it’s front legs to force itself upright to reach leafs and stuff higher up. It’s front feet actually look like hands, it’s pretty cool. And then, the other has to be the velociraptor, those things were total badass.”

Lexa could see Clarke looking at her, the blonde with a look of total confusion and amusement on her face.

“What?” Lexa asked.

“You are such a geek.” Clarke said, laughing.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Later that day Lexa and Clarke we laying on the sofa at Clarke’s apartment. Octavia was out with Lincoln and Raven was still at work. Lexa was laying on her back and Clarke was cuddled up next to her, head on the brunette’s shoulder and her arm across her waist. They were watching The Land Before Time on Netflix. Clarke was amused at how every now and again Lexa would recite one of the lines from the movie and laugh a little. She had never really expected to see this side of Lexa. Obviously she knew that there was more to Lexa than the tough exterior that she loved to show everyone else, she had seen the softer side when the brunette was with Tris, but this side of Lexa was something else entirely.

“Oh this bit is so cute…” Lexa said quietly, laughing a little.

Clarke watched the screen as one of the young dinosaurs tripped and rolled down the hill. She found herself laughing along with Lexa.

“I like this…” Clarke said as she cuddled a little closer to Lexa.

“Told you it was a good movie.” Lexa replied.

“I’m not talking about the movie, idiot,” Clarke said with a laugh, “I mean this, just me and you, like this… I like it.”

“It’s probably the most normal thing we’ve done.” Lexa mumbled as she placed a soft kiss on Clarke’s head.

“When do you have to be at work?” the blonde asked.

Lexa grumbled and shifted a little so she could reach down onto the floor for her phone, checking the time. She also saw that she had two missed calls from Gustus.

“Shit…” she said, “going to have to sit up, beautiful.”

“What’s the matter?” Clarke asked as she sat up.

“Missed calls from Gustus.” Lexa sighed, “guess normal just doesn’t last, huh.”

Clarke paused the movie as Lexa stood up and called Gustus back.

“You rang.” She said as he answered.

“Twice,” he replied, “where are you?”

“Out.” Lexa said, glancing over at Clarke and rolling her eyes a little.

“I need you to meet Ryder at the club before it opens,” Gustus said, “he has something that I need you to do.”

“What is it?” Lexa asked.

“Ryder will tell you when you get to the club.” He replied.

“Why can’t you just tell me now,” Lexa said, “save me time going to the club, I can just go do whatever it is, then go to the club afterwards for work.”

“I am not discussing this over the phone, Alexandria.” Gustus said, “just meet Ryder at the club.”

“Fine.” Lexa said, hanging up the phone, before she looked at Clarke, “I’m really sorry, I’ve got to go…”

“Am I going to see you later?” Clarke asked as she walked over to Lexa, putting her arms around the brunette’s waist after she had put her jacket on.

“I’ll be working till about 4.” Lexa said, “and it’s your night off, so you’ll be asleep by then.”

“I can meet you from work.” Clarke replied with a smile.

“We’ll see what happens.” Lexa said with a smile of her own before she softly kissing Clarke, “you really are beautiful, you know…”

“Go.” Clarke said with a soft laugh as Lexa flashed her a grin before she walked to the door.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As Lexa walked into the club she saw Ryder sitting with a few of the others, they were obviously talking about whatever Gustus had asked them to do.

“Finally.” Tristan said as he saw Lexa walk in.

“Yeah, sorry,” she said with a shrug as she walked over to the table, “I was a little busy.”

“How is the hot doctor?” Tristan asked with a smirk.

“She’s fine,” Lexa said, sitting down at the table, “so what’s going on?”

“The anonymous tip that Blake got,” Ryder said, “the one that led to the café getting raided, one of Gustus’s police contacts got it traced.”

“Right,” Lexa replied, “who was it and what does he want doing?”

“He wants their place of business burnt down, as a message.” Ryder said.

“What are you not telling me?” Lexa asked, leaning back in her chair.

“It’s the Griffin Clinic.” He said.

“What?” Lexa asked.

“Doctor Griffin, the older Doctor Griffin, is the one who made the call, Lexa.” Tristan said as he looked at her.

“That clinic is open 24 hours a day,” Lexa said, looking between them, “there are people in there every hour of every day. Doctors, nurses, patients. There’s no way we can burn that place down without an innocent getting caught in the middle.”

“Sure you’re not more worried about the fact that it’s your girlfriends mom?” Quint asked.

“You got something you want to say?” Lexa asked as she looked coldly at him.

“No.” he said, shaking his head a little, “Sorry.”

“We’re not burning the place down,” Lexa said, looking around the small group, “that’s not happening. Doctor Griffin has never caused any trouble for us before, why would she start now.”

“Maybe because…” Tristan started to say, “all I mean is, it’s a bit weird that she does this once you start sleeping with her daughter.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I haven’t slept with her daughter.” Lexa replied with a sigh.

She started running through things in her head, she knew that she certainly wasn’t Abby’s favourite person in the world, and she was sure that the older Doctor Griffin believed that Clarke could do better than Lexa, but she had no idea if Clarke had told her mom about the recent developments in her relationship with Lexa.

“Okay,” she said with a sigh, “here’s how this is going to go down. You’re all going to stay here, and I’m going to talk to Abby.”

“That isn’t…” Quint started to say.

“I don’t care,” Lexa said, cutting him off, “we’re doing this my way, not his. You have a problem with that you know where the door is.”

Quint just sat back in his chair and looked at Lexa, who didn’t take her eyes off him.

“You all stay here, and I’ll go and talk to Abby,” she repeated, which caused him to nod a little, “good.”

“Lexa,” Tristan said as she stood up, “what are you going to do if it was her?”

“I don’t know yet.” Lexa replied as she walked to the door.

As Lexa was walking to the clinic she got out her phone and called Raven.

“Reyes auto-repair.” Came the reply.

“Raven, it’s Lexa,” Lexa said, “what do you know about tracing phone calls…”

“You need me to trace something for you, boss?” Raven asked, Lexa could tell she had a small smirk on her face.

“I’m not your boss.” Lexa said with a small laugh.

“Not yet,” the other girl replied, “anyway, what do you need me to do?”

“I need to know if a call that was placed to a tip line can be traced.” Lexa said, “Like if someone called a police hotline, could that call be traced?”

“Yeah,” Raven said with a nod, though she knew Lexa couldn’t see her, “the number could. If it was a cell-phone then they would just find out which cell-towers it bounced off and triangulate the location from there.”

“And the police could do that easily?” the other girl asked.

“They’d probably get their tech guys to look into it,” Raven replied, “but as a general rule they don’t. Tip line calls don’t usually get traced unless the tip is something that would really break a case. That’s why they have the lines, so people will phone up without getting actually involved. What’s this about?”

“That café down near the medical clinic that got raided the other day.” Lexa said.

“Why would that call get traced?” Raven asked, more to herself than Lexa, “What would they stand to gain from tracing that one…”

“I think I’m being set up…” Lexa said with a sigh, “thanks for the help Raven.”

“Anytime boss.” Raven replied as she hung up the phone.

Lexa smiled a little and shook her head as she put her phone back in her pocket. She and Raven had gotten over their initial issues in the last few days, and Lexa found that she actually really liked having the other girl around. She looked around her as she walked towards the clinic doors. Seeing no cars or anything out of the ordinary around, she took a deep breath before opening the doors and walking in.

Lexa looked around the waiting room as she walked to the desk, Maya the girl she had met before was working again. In the waiting room Lexa couldn’t see anyone that she recognised, apart from Chuck, the guy that worked at a take-out place not far from Clarke’s. He’s served her food the night before. He waved a little as he saw Lexa, she nodded and smiled a little in reply.

“How can I help you today, Alexandria?” Maya asked with a smile as she reached the desk.

“It’s Lexa,” Lexa replied with a smile of her own, “I need to speak to Doctor Griffin.”

“Clarke isn’t in today.” Maya said.

“I mean the other Doctor Griffin,” Lexa said with another smile, “Abby.”

“Abby is very busy,” Maya replied, “as you can see we’re pretty packed today, I can put your name down to see her, but it might be a couple of hours.”

“Can you let her know I’m here, tell her it’s really important that I talk to her, as soon as possible.” Lexa said, “Tell her that I don’t have a lot of time either, and that patience is not exactly my strong point.”

“Sure,” Maya said with a small nod, “I’ll tell her. Take a seat.”

Lexa nodded as Maya picked up the phone, she walked to the waiting area and saw that the only vacant seat was next to Chuck.

“How you doing today, Chuck?” she asked as she sat down.

“Accident with a cheese grater.” He said, holding his hand up and showing her his fingers wrapped in a towel.

“Well that has got to suck.” She replied.

Lexa reached over to the small table near her seat and looked through the magazines.

“They’re all really out of date.” A female voice said, causing Lexa to look up, “I think the most recent one is 6 months old.”

“Waste of time then.” Lexa said with a small smile, sitting back in her chair.

As Lexa sat, her head rested back against the wall behind her, her eyes closed, she could feel the woman still looking at her.

“Something I can help you with?” Lexa asked as she opened her eyes and looked at the girl.

“You have no idea who I am, do you?” she asked in reply.

“Should I know who you are?” Lexa said as she sat up a little straighter.

“Maybe not,” the girl said with a shrug, “but I know who you are, Lexa.”

Lexa didn’t say anything as she looked at the girl, trying to figure out if she should know her.

“You might know my brother, Justin.” The girl said, which caused Lexa to groan a little, “I see you remember him.”

“He made a good impression on my fists.” Lexa replied with a nod.

“You put him in intensive care and that’s all you’ve got to say?” the girl asked.

“He nearly killed my cousin.” Lexa replied, noticing the girls hands balling into fists on her lap, “you do not want to do this, trust me.”

Just as Lexa was sure the girl was going to stand up, Abby walked out of one of the small side room.

“Lexa.” She said, causing Lexa to look over at her, “if you’ve quite finished scaring my patients, I have a few minutes.”

Lexa smirked a little as she stood up and walked over to where Abby was standing.

“So,” Abby said as she showed Lexa into the small side room, closing the door behind them both, “what can I do for you? Maya said it was very important.”

“It is,” Lexa said with a nod as she sat down, “and now I’m actually here I have no idea how to word it. A phone call was apparently made to a gang hotline about a café not far from here…”

“The café that got raided by the police a few days ago?” Abby asked, causing Lexa to nod, “I used to get my lunch there, they made the best sandwiches.”

“I’ll have to take your word for that,” Lexa replied, “I never ate there. That phone call apparently came from this building.”

“You think I called them?” Abby asked, sitting up a little straighter in her chair, “Why would I call the police about a café?”

“My thoughts exactly.” Lexa replied with a sigh.

“Let me get something straight here, what your uncle does or doesn’t do with his businesses is none of my business,” Abby said, “he doesn’t need to send his heavies around to get me to stay quiet, I would’ve thought that was clear by now.”

“Believe it or not Mrs Griffin, I think you and your clinic have just become a pawn in a game that my uncle is trying to play with me.” Lexa said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Lexa’s phone started to ring, she took it out of her pocket and saw that it was Bellamy.

“What is it, Bellamy, I’m kind of in the middle of something here.” She said, looking apologetically at Abby.

“Octavia just got home,” he said, sounding a little out of breath, “the door was smashed open, the place has been trashed.”

Lexa nearly dropped her phone, her heart started pounding in her chest, her mouth went dry.

“Lexa,” Bellamy said, “you still there?”

“Yeah…” Lexa replied, “I’m still here… Take Octavia to Luna’s, swing by and get Raven on your way. Get O to call Lincoln and have him and Anya meet me at the house.”

“Where’s Clarke?” Bellamy asked.

“I have an idea where she is…” Lexa said, “just do what I said, I’ll call you as soon as I know what’s going on.”

Lexa hung up the phone, Abby was just sitting there looking at her.

“What’s going on, Lexa?” Abby asked.

“I…” she started to say, “that was Bellamy, obviously… he, er…”

“Is Clarke in danger?” Abby asked, the colour draining from her face a little.

“Not if I can help it.” Lexa said, as she stood up and left the room.

Lexa ran from the clinic back to the club, as she rushed in through the door she saw everyone still sitting there. She walked over to Quint and picked him up from the chair by the collar of his jacket and backed him into the wall.

“Lexa…” Tristan said as they all stood up from the seats.

“Where is she?” Lexa asked.

“Where’s who?” Quint asked, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Clarke,” Lexa said, “where is she?”

“I don’t…” he started to say, stopping when Lexa raised her hand up getting ready to hit him in the face, “the house, she’s at the house.”

Lexa lifted her knee, bringing it up as hard as she could between Quint’s legs, dropping him very quickly to the floor. As she stepped back she looked at the others, from the looks on their faces Lexa knew that they had no idea what was going on.

“I want him dealt with,” Lexa said to Ryder as she motioned back to Quint who was currently groaning in pain, “Tristan, Marius, Nyko, you’re with me. This ends now.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa sat in the passenger seat of Tristan’s car as they drove towards the outskirts of the city. Her leg was bouncing up and down slightly as she tried to calm the anger which was coursing through her.

“You’re just going to rock up there and ask where she is?” Nyko asked from the backseat.

“No,” Lexa replied, “I’m going to walk in there and he’s going to give her to me. He knows I’m going to go there, or he wouldn’t have taken her. It’s why he sent me to the clinic. He knew I was with her earlier.”

Lexa’s phone beeped, letting her know she had a text. Taking her phone out of her jacket pocket she looked at it.

**Luna** : Bellamy just arrived. Told me what happened. Good luck kid.

Lexa read the message and put her phone back in her pocket.

“If any of you are having doubts about this,” she said, turning to look at the others in the car, “I need to know, now.”

None of them said anything, Tristan glanced over at her.

“We’ve got your back, Lexa,” he said, before he looked back at the road, “you’ve always done right by us, time we repaid the favour.”

As Tristan pulled the car up outside the house, Lexa could see Lincoln and Anya sitting in Lincolns car. She reached under the car seat and took out the knife that she knew Tristan kept there. She looked back at Nyko, he nodded a little, patting his pocket. Marius also nodded his head, opening his jacket to reveal a gun.

“Hopefully we won’t need that.” Lexa said as she got out of the car, before she closed the door she took her jacket off and put it on the seat.

She walked over to Lincolns car and knocked on the window. Anya got out of the passenger seat and Lexa stepped back from the car to let Lincoln get out. He looked angry, like really angry, Lexa had never seen him like that.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Octavia could’ve been in the apartment.” Was all he said.

Lexa looked at the door to the house, everything seemed peaceful from the outside. She glanced over at Anya, the other girl walking around the car and standing next to her, Lincoln at her other side, with Tristan, Nyko and Marius behind them. Taking a deep breath, Lexa walked up the steps and opened the door.

“Where is she?” Lexa asked as she walked into the house, finding Gustus standing at the bottom of the stairs, with a group of people around him.

Lexa quickly scanned the group, out of the 14 people that were with Gustus she knew 10 of them were people that Anya and Lincoln trusted, people that already knew what was going on.

“Alexandria.” Gustus said with a small smile, “Let’s sit down and talk about this.”

“Yeah, let’s not,” Lexa replied, “I’m done talking to you. Where is she?”

“Lincoln…” Gustus said as he looked at the man, “I wish I could say that I’m surprised by your actions, but I’m not. You always lacked a certain… something, oh yes, backbone.”

Lexa felt Lincoln tense up next to him.

“Don’t listen to him.” Lexa said quietly.

“Now Anya,” Gustus continued, looking at his daughter, “why don’t you come over here where you belong.”

Anya didn’t move.

“My own child going against me,” Gustus said with an amused but dark look on his face, “I have given you everything that you ever wanted, and this is how you repay me?”

“I didn’t want this…” Anya said.

“You are outnumbered, and outgunned, Alexandria,” he said stepping forward a little away from the group of people around him, “your best option now is to turn around and walk away.”

“Walking away is never an option, you taught me that.” Lexa replied, “and I may not be as outnumbered as you think I am.”

Echo slowly started to walk from behind Gustus, moving over to stand behind Lexa. It didn’t take long for others to follow.

“Now I will ask you again,” Lexa said as the sudden realisation of what was happening hit Gustus, “where is she?”

“You are willing to destroy this family, your family, over a girl you have known for a matter of weeks?” he asked, his eyes fixed firmly on Lexa, “You are weak, Alexandria. Throwing away everything you have worked for, everything we have built as a family for a girl.”

“You are already destroying this family.” Indra said as she walked out of the side office, with Clarke next to her.

Lexa snapped her eyes over to Clarke, making sure that she wasn’t hurt.

“Are you okay?” Lexa asked her.

“She’s fine.” Indra replied for Clarke, “a few knocks where the idiots were a little heavy handed, but she’s fine.”

“Get her back in the office.” Gustus said to Indra, the woman just stood there, Gustus looked at one of the men with him, “you, do it.”

“Move and I will hurt you.” Lexa said to him, which caused him to look between Lexa and Gustus, unsure of who to listen to.

Indra moved, putting herself between Clarke and Gustus as the big man walked over to her.

“Move.” He said to Indra.

“Make me.” She replied, “You say Lexa is destroying this family, when you have been doing that for months. You are making us look weak. We get attacked and you hide away. I do not hide.”

“You lay a hand on my mother and I will kill you.” Lincoln said from where he was standing next to Lexa.

“Here’s what’s going to happen next.” Lexa said as she stepped forward from the group, “I am going to take Clarke, I’m going to take my family, and I’m going to leave. I will be back in three days, if you’re still here… I will kill you.”

“I am not leaving.” Gustus replied, turning to look at Lexa, “You cannot win this.”

“Try me.” Lexa said, stepping forward again, she glanced over at Indra and Clarke and motioned for them to move towards the door.

While Lexa’s attention was on Indra and Clarke, Gustus brought his arm up, hitting Lexa across the face with the back of his hand, causing her to stumble backwards.

“Lexa…” Clarke said as she brunette spat the blood out of her mouth.

“Get her out of here.” Lexa said, not looking at Indra, but the other woman knew she was talking to her.

While Indra was walking Clarke towards the door, Lexa wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand and looked at her uncle.

“I didn’t want it to come to this.” She said honestly.

Gustus pulled a gun from the waistline of his jeans and pointed it at Lexa.

“Is that the gun you wanted cleaned and loaded earlier?” Echo asked as she stepped forward a little, “because I may have forgotten.”

Gustus glanced over at the girl, bringing his arm back he moved to hit Lexa with the butt of the gun. Lexa ducked down under his arm, grabbing hold of it she twisted it up his back, using all the force she could she kicked the back of his knee dropping him to the floor in front of her. Using her free hand she took the knife from where she had put it in the back of her belt. She stood behind Gustus, putting the knife to his throat as he struggled to free the arm that Lexa had twisted up his back.

“Think about what you’re doing, child.” Gustus said.

Lexa tried to slow her breathing, her heart beating quickly in her chest.

“Lexa…” Anya said, walking up next to Lexa and putting her hand on the girls arm.

Lexa swallowed as she closed her eyes, shrugging of Anya’s hand. She pulled the knife away from Gustus’s throat, choosing instead to hit him with the handle of the weapon in the side of the head, kicking him down with her foot as she backed away.

“You have three days.” She said, calmly walking backwards away from him.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa hissed as Clarke put an icepack against the side of her face as they all sat in Luna’s apartment.

“It does not hurt that much,” Clarke said, “you big baby.”

“I bruise easily…” Lexa said with a small smirk.

“Then you really didn’t pick the correct line of work.” The blonde said with a small laugh and a shake of her head.

“I didn’t choose this, it chose me…” Lexa said, holding the icepack to her face as Clarke moved her hand away, “you should probably call your mom…”

“You told her?” Clarke asked.

“Not exactly,” Lexa replied, “I was there when Bellamy called me.”

Clarke rolled her eyes as Raven held out her phone for the girl to use, as they had no idea where Clarke’s phone was, probably at the trashed apartment somewhere.

“You can use my room.” Tris said to her with a smile.

“You should be going to sleep.” Luna said to her daughter.

“But Lexa is here.” Tris replied, as she sat on Lexa’s knee.

“Why do I get the feeling that my daughter loves you more than she loves me?” Luna said, an amused look on her face as she looked at Lexa.

“I’m just that awesome.” She said with a grin, groaning as her lip split open again.

“Yeah, totally awesome.” Luna said with a laugh, tossing a hand towel over at Lexa, who caught it no problem, “so what happens now?”

“That’s a good question.” Lexa said with a sigh as she put the icepack down on the table and put the towel to her lip to stem the bleeding, “guess we just wait and find out… Thanks, by the way, for letting O, Bellamy and Raven hang here.”

“It was no trouble,” Luna replied, “Raven actually spent most of the night telling Tris all about why the meteor that hit Earth 70 million years ago wiped out the dinosaurs.”

“68 million years.” Tris said with a nod, earning a smirk from Raven.

Indra brought plates of food out of the kitchen, putting them on the table and shaking her head as everyone dived in pretty much straight away.

“Animals…” Indra said.

“Indra…” Lexa said, moving Tris off her lap, “can we talk?”

“There’s nothing to say.” Indra replied as she looked at Lexa.

“There’s plenty to say.” Lexa said as she stood up.

“Well there’s nothing that you need to say,” Indra said, “it is what it is.”

“I have to know why…” Lexa said with a sigh, “you didn’t have to do what you did…”

“You’re my family,” Indra said, stepping closer to Lexa, “you, Lincoln, Anya… I started questioning the way Gustus was doing things months ago, he always told me he had it under control. He lost control of this family a long time ago, Lexa.”

Lexa nodded a little.

“Do not start questioning yourself now.” Indra said quietly.

As Indra walked away Lexa sat back down, watching everyone chatting amongst themselves as they ate. She couldn’t help but run over and over the same question in her head, the question that Luna had asked her moments before. What happens now. Now they wait. She had given Gustus three days to leave the city. She had to honour that, or her word would mean nothing. Bellamy’s phone ringing caught Lexa’s attention, she watched as he walked away from the group to answer it, talking animatedly for a few moments before he hung up and looked at Lexa.

“Grounders is on fire.” He said.

“And so it begins.” Lexa said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa stood in the middle of what was left of Grounders, looking around she knew that it wouldn’t take much to get the place up and running, she could have people working on it and be open again in a month or so. The police were still hanging around, as it was pretty obvious that it had been arson. While she was assessing the damage a woman spoke from behind her.

“Funny thing, fire,” the woman said, causing Lexa to turn around quickly and see who it was, “it just consumes everything…”

“Nia…” Lexa said folding her arms across her chest as she looked at the other woman.

“Lexa,” Nia said with a small smile, “it’s good to see you again, shame it’s under such… difficult circumstances.”

“What do you want?” Lexa asked, glancing around her.

“I’m here alone, you have no need to worry about that,” Nia said with a small smile, “a mutual friend said you may want to talk to me. If what I hear is correct, now is the perfect time for that talk to happen.”

“In case you didn’t notice, I’ve got other shit to worry about right now,” Lexa said, motioning to the mess around her, “so maybe this can wait.”

“Family take-overs,” Nia said with a laugh, “such a messy business. Don’t keep me waiting too long, Lexa.”

Lexa stood and watched as Nia turned and walked through what was left of the door.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Lexa finally got back to Luna’s that night she was exhausted. Her day really hadn’t gone the way she hoped it would, but Gustus had forced her hand, she’d had no choice but to react. Luna was sitting on the sofa when Lexa walked into the living room. Everyone else was nowhere to be seen. Luna poured out a double measure of whiskey into the empty glass which sat next to her own on the table and handed it to Lexa.

“Thanks…” Lexa said, taking the glass and sitting down on the sofa next to Luna.

“Looks like you could use it.” the older woman said with a smile, “how bad is it?”

“It’s going to take some work,” Lexa replied with a nod, “but it’s doable.”

“Good.” Luna said with a nod of her own.

“Where did everyone go?” Lexa asked, looking around.

“Indra left with Nyko and Echo,” Luna replied, “she said she will see you in the morning. Tristan and Emori took Marius and a couple of the others back with them. Octavia and Lincoln went with Bellamy. Raven and Anya are in Tris’s room, Tris is in my room and Clarke is in the spare room. She tried to stay awake till you got back, but I think the day caught up with her. She’s er… something else.”

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked as she looked at Luna.

“Most people would’ve run a mile after what happened today,” Luna said with a small laugh and a shake of her head, “even though she knew what your life was like, today was… something she probably wasn’t expecting. Anyone else would’ve gone, but not her. While you were at Grounders she was reading Tris a bedtime story instead of going to her mothers. Try and keep hold of that one, Lexa.”

“I intend to…” Lexa replied, downing the drink and putting the glass on the table, before she stood up, “thanks again, Luna, this really does mean a lot.”

“What’s family for if not for shit like this.” Luna said as she looked at Lexa, “sleep well, kid.”

As Lexa was walking towards the spare room she stopped at the door of Luna’s room, which was open. She looked in and smiled a little as she saw Tris sprawled out in the middle of the bed like a starfish, her hair splayed out behind her head. Seeing the duvet had been nearly kicked off the bed, Lexa quietly made her way into the room and pulled it back up around the young girl. As she softly placed a kiss on Tris’s head the young girl stirred a little, opening her eyes she looked at Lexa and smiled.

“You came back…” she said.

“Of course I did.” Lexa replied with a small smile.

“Clarke said you’d come back.” Tris nodded, her eyes closing again as she fell back to sleep.

“Sweet dreams squirt…” Lexa said, walking back to the door and pulling it closed a little as she walked back out into the hallway.

Quietly opening the door to the spare room, she couldn’t stop the small ache she felt in her chest. Clarke was fast asleep, as she had expected, and she just looked so peaceful. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly as she walked over to the bed, she sat down on the edge of the bed and started taking her boots off. She felt Clarke stir behind her and looked over at the blonde girl, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Mmm…” Clarke said as she stretched out a little, her eyes fixed on Lexa, “how bad is the damage?”

“Fixable.” Lexa replied with a soft smile.

“Good.” Clarke said, returning the smile.

“How’s your mom?” Lexa asked, as she finished taking her boots off.

“She’s okay,” Clarke said, turning onto her side so she could look at Lexa, “told me I should go there, something about it being safer.”

“She might have a point…” Lexa replied with a sigh.

“I’m not running away, Lexa,” the blonde said, sitting up and moving over to where Lexa was sitting.

Clarke sat behind Lexa, moved the brunette’s hair to one side and rested her chin on the girl’s shoulder, one arm moving to Lexa’s hip.

“I’m not hiding…” she said.

“I’m not asking you to hide, Clarke.” Lexa said closing her eyes as she felt Clarke’s breath on her neck.

Both girls sat in silence for a few moments.

“Something tells me that this is going to get worse before it gets better…” Lexa said quietly.

“So we’ll deal with it,” Clarke said, “whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.”

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a sigh.

“You’re not alone in this, Lexa.” The blonde said, softly kissing the brunette’s neck before she lay back down.

Lexa quickly took her jeans off and climbed into bed next to Clarke. The blonde cuddled up to her as Lexa lay looking at the ceiling.

“I need to go down and check out that warehouse Luna mentioned tomorrow,” Lexa said, “see if I can use if for something. Not sure what yet… And we need to go and sort out your apartment. Until all this has calmed down I don’t think you should stay there…”

“What about Raven and Octavia?” Clarke asked, propping herself up on her elbow so she could look at Lexa.

“We’ll figure something out.” Lexa replied, “Got to figure something out for Lincoln and Anya too… and the cat.”

“The cat?” Clarke asked, amusement in her voice.

“I kind of have a cat…” Lexa said as she looked at the blonde, “well I don’t, it just kind of attached itself to me. I let it in one night when it was raining, now every time the kitchen window is open it comes inside. Sleeps on my sofa.”

“Such a badass gangster, letting a cat in when it was raining.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“Mockery is not the product of a strong mind, Clarke.” Lexa replied, her lips curling into a small smirk.

Clarke laughed a little. She softly brushed some hair from Lexa’s face, her eyes never leaving the green ones that looked back at her.

“Thank you…” she said.

“For what?” Lexa asked, bring her hand up and softly trailing her fingers along Clarke’s jaw.

“Coming for me…” Clarke replied.

“Always.” Lexa said, lifting her head a little and closing the gap between their lips.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little heads up, there's violence in this part, plus Clarke and Lexa get a little heated on Luna's sofa, and Tris asks Lexa the hard questions. Hope you all like it, don't forget to drop me a comment and let me know :)

 

 

When she woke up it took her a few minutes to remember where she was. Lexa wasn’t used to waking up in strange rooms, she certainly wasn’t used to waking up to find someone’s arms wrapped around her with their head rested on her shoulder. But as she looked at the blonde sleeping in her arms she couldn’t help but think it was something that she could get used to. She placed a soft kiss on Clarke’s head and tried to move her arm without waking the blonde. The small sleepy grumble let her know she hadn’t been successful.

“Where are you going?” Clarke asked sleepily as Lexa made her way over to the chest of drawers.

“Bathroom,” she replied with a small smile, as she turned and looked at the blonde, “go back to sleep, I won’t be long.”

As Lexa took a pair of sweatpants, hers from another time she had stayed at Luna’s, from the chest of drawers and put them on, she turned back to the bed and saw that Clarke had already gone back to sleep. Lexa quietly left the bedroom, closing the door behind her, and walked to the living room. She had too much running through her mind to even think about going back to sleep, and she didn’t want to lay in bed in case she kept Clarke awake. Though something told her that the blonde could sleep through anything. There was a side lamp turned on in the living room, which told Lexa she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep, a small cold breeze letting her know that the window was also open. The living room itself was empty, as she walked towards the kitchen she could see Anya sitting out on the steps of the fire escape.

After making herself a coffee, Lexa climbed out of the window, joining Anya.

“I love the city when it’s like this…” Anya said as Lexa sat down with her back against the wall near the window.

“You mean quiet?” Lexa asked with a small laugh.

“Yeah,” Anya replied with a huff of a laugh, “it’s literally the calm before the storm isn’t it…”

“Yeah,” Lexa said with a small nod, “it doesn’t have to be, he could just leave… but we both know, with the fire at Grounders, that isn’t going to happen. I really didn’t want it to come to this, you know that, right?”

“Of course I know that.” Anya said as she looked over at her cousin.

“When did everything get so messed up…” Lexa said, unsure of whether she was actually expecting an answer or not.

“About two weeks ago, when I was nearly killed and you met a certain hot blonde doctor.” Anya replied, causing Lexa to laugh a little.

“Things were messed up before that,” Lexa said, putting the coffee down next to her and bringing her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs she sighed, “it’s been heading this way for a while, I just don’t think I wanted to see it.”

“Don’t start doubting yourself now, Lexa.” Anya said.

“That’s what Indra said…” Lexa replied, “I just…it’s not just us that I have to think about anymore. There’s Luna and Tris… Raven, Octavia, Bellamy…”

“And Clarke.” Anya said.

“And Clarke.” Lexa said with a small nod, “I need to check out that warehouse, if Gustus doesn’t know about it maybe we could use it as a base or something…”

“We keeping Grounders?” Anya asked as she looked at Lexa.

“It’s the only guaranteed steady income we have,” Lexa said, “it’s going to take some work to get it open again though.”

“We could always just clear it out and sell up.” Anya said, the tone in her voice letting Lexa know that she didn’t like that idea.

“No,” Lexa said shaking her head, “not happening. That’s what he wants.”

“I wonder if he realises that all the legitimate businesses that he owns are in someone else’s name,” Anya said, “Grounders is technically ours on paper, the courier business is in Indra’s name as are a few of his other places. He’s kinda shot himself in the foot.”

“His off-shore bank accounts are actually in my parents’ name,” Lexa said, “with me as the only person who can move money from them…”

“The house is in my name…” Anya said as she and Lexa looked at each other, “we could legally make him leave.”

“How much time will that take?” Lexa asked, “it’s going to take months, and for every day it takes we risk this getting worse.”

“So what do we do?” Anya asked with a sigh.

“I gave him three days, I have to stand by that or my word means nothing…” she replied, “Nia came to Grounders when I was there, a mutual friend told her I wanted to talk to her.”

“Luna…” Anya said as she looked back into the apartment.

“That would be my guess,” Lexa said with a nod, “if I can talk to her, get her to see that it would be beneficial for both sides if we stopped fighting… even if it is only temporary…”

Lexa’s phone ringing stopped her talking, with a sigh she took it out of her pocket. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the screen, it wasn’t a number she recognised.

“Yeah…” she said answering the phone, shrugging as Anya looked at her with a questioning look on her face.

“Lexa?” came the reply, “it’s Abby.”

“What can I do for you, Dr Griffin?” Lexa asked.

“A friend of yours was just dropped outside the clinic,” Abby replied, “Clarke explained to me what is going on between you and your uncle, I thought you would like to know.”

“Who?” Lexa asked as she stood up, ready to go back inside.

“Ryder.” Abby said.

“I’ll be right there.” Lexa said, hanging up the phone and climbing back in through the window.

“Lexa,” Anya said, following her inside, “what’s going on?”

“Ryder was dropped at the clinic.” Lexa replied, “I need to go…”

Lexa went back into the bedroom and found the hooded top which went with the sweatpants she was wearing, as she was putting on her sneakers Clarke woke up.

“Lex…” she said.

“Go back to sleep.” Lexa replied, quickly glancing over her shoulder to the blonde, “I’ll be back soon…”

“What’s going on?” Clarke asked, sitting up in the bed and rubbing her eyes a little.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Lexa said with a small smile, “just go back to sleep.”

“You said you weren’t going to shut me out…” Clarke said.

“And I’m not.” Lexa replied, leaning back onto the bed and softly kissing the blonde, “there’s just something I need to do.”

Clarke knew she wasn’t going to win any argument with Lexa at that point so she didn’t say anything as the brunette left the room.

“If Luna wakes up before I get back,” Lexa said, picking the car keys up from the small table near the door, as she looked at Anya, “tell her I borrowed her car.”

Anya just stood and watched as Lexa left the apartment, closing the door behind her.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” Clarke asked Anya as she walked out of the bedroom.

Anya didn’t reply, she just turned around and walked back into the living room.

“Anya, please,” Clarke said as she followed her, “where’s Lexa going?”

“Your mom called her,” Anya said, knowing that Lexa would probably kick her ass, but she didn’t want to deal with a whiney blonde, “Ryder was dropped at the clinic.”

“He wasn’t at the house earlier, was he?” Clarke asked, trying to remember who had been there.

“No.” Anya replied, “Tristan told me he was dealing with Quint. Lexa was sure that Quint had something to do with Gustus taking you to the house.”

“Quint…” Clarke said as she tried to put a face to the name, “that’s the really big ugly looking guy with the tattoo on his face right, bald head?”

“That’s the one.” Anya said with a nod.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa parked the car outside the clinic, a quick scan of the street told her there was no one around. She got out of the car, closed the door and walked into the clinic.

“Can I help you?” A girl she didn’t recognise said from the reception desk.

“Dr Griffin called me,” Lexa started to say, “a friend of…”

“You’re Lexa?” the girl asked, causing Lexa to nod, “I’m Harper, I’ll let Abby know you’re here.”

“Thanks…” Lexa replied as the girl picked up the phone.

Lexa looked around the waiting room as Harper talked on the phone, she saw Marius sitting in one of the seats, his head back against the wall and his eyes closed.

“She’ll be out in a minute.” Harper said to Lexa.

Lexa nodded her reply and walked over to Marius. She kicked his foot to wake him up, causing him to nearly jump from the chair.

“The doctor call you?” he asked as he got his heart rate back down to normal.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied, “what happened?”

“He called me, told me Gustus wanted to see him,” Marius said, “said he wasn’t going to go and that he was going home. Next thing I know I’m getting a call from here, my number was the last he called. Told them to call you.”

“Did he say why Gustus wanted to see him?” Lexa asked.

“Lexa…” Abby said from the corridor.

Lexa looked at Abby before she looked back at Marius

“Go home,” she said, “I’ll deal with this.”

With that she turned and walked to where Abby was standing.

“How is he?” she asked.

Abby motioned for Lexa to follow her, and they walked into one of the small rooms. Ryder was lying on the bed. He had been beaten pretty badly.

“Shit…” Lexa said with a sigh, running her hand through her hair.

“He’s going to be fine.” Abby said as she stood next to Lexa.

“Thanks…” Lexa replied, glancing at Abby before looking back to Ryder, “and thanks for calling me.”

“Well this isn’t the kind of thing I wanted the clinic involved in,” Abby said, “a turf war between two groups we could just about deal with, but something tells me we’re going to get a lot busier.”

“Not if I can help it.” Lexa said, looking at the older woman.

Ryder opened his eyes and looked over at Lexa and Abby.

“I told you not to call her Doc.” He said, trying to sit up.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Abby said to Lexa with a small smile, “try not to stress him out too much.”

Lexa nodded as Abby left the room, closing the door behind her.

“You didn’t have to come.” Ryder said to Lexa as she walked over to the bed.

“I look after my people; you should know that by now.” She said as she pulled up a chair next to the bed, “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“I’d left Grounders,” he said, resting his head back on the pillow after realising that sitting up was probably a stupid idea, “after doing what you asked. I was on my way home to change before work. Got a call saying Gustus wanted to see me, something about you threatening to kill him…”

“Something like that.” Lexa replied, “Marius said you went home…”

“Yeah,” Ryder said with a nod, “I know where my loyalties lie. When I got there Lucian and Artigus were waiting. You know the rest. I told her not to bother you.”

“It’s no bother,” Lexa said with a small smile, resting her hand softly on his shoulder as she stood up, “get some rest.”

Ryder closed his eyes as Lexa walked back to the door.

“What did you do with Quint?” Lexa asked, stopping at the door and looking back at him.

“Drove him into Azgeda territory,” Ryder replied, his eyes still closed, “shattered his kneecap and left him there. Figured Nia and her people could deal with him.”

Lexa left the room, closing the door behind her, Abby was waiting in the corridor.

“Let me know how much his treatment is going to cost, and I’ll take care of it.” she said to Abby before she moved to walk past the older woman.

“Lexa…” Abby said, causing her to stop and look back, “how’s Clarke?”

“She’s okay.” Lexa replied with a small nod.

“I told her to come home,” Abby said, walking over to Lexa, “but she’s not a kid anymore, she stopped listening to me a long time ago…”

Lexa laughed a little, knowing how stubborn the blonde could be.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two,” Abby continued, holding her hand up to stop Lexa from talking as the brunette opened her mouth to say something, “just try and keep her out of this.”

Lexa nodded a little.

“I’ll try.” She said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Lexa finally got back to Luna’s apartment she was jumped on by Tris as soon as she walked through the door.

“Hey there.” Lexa said with a smile as she closed the door behind her with her foot.

“Where did you go?” Tris asked.

“I had to go and see someone.” Lexa replied as she carried the girl through to the living room.

“Is Ryder okay?” Clarke asked from where she was sitting on the sofa.

“Yeah,” Lexa said with a nod as she put Tris back down, “he’s okay.”

“You could have just told me where you were going.” Clarke said as she looked at Lexa.

“Tris,” Luna said from the kitchen doorway, “come and get your breakfast.”

“Are you two fighting?” Tris asked, looking between Lexa and Clarke.

“Tris.” Luna said, “now.”

“Go on, squirt,” Lexa said with a small smile, ruffling Tris’s hair, “don’t want your mom getting angry.”

Tris pouted but went into the kitchen.

“I told you it was nothing to worry about,” Lexa said as she sat down on the sofa, pulling her leg up under her as she looked at Clarke, “and I told you I’d be back soon.”

“But I didn’t ask you if it was something to worry about, did I,” Clarke said, “I asked where you were going…”

“And if I’d have told you where I was going, what difference would it have made?” Lexa asked, “Were you going to come and hold my hand? I’ve been dealing with this shit all my life, Clarke, seeing Ryder at the clinic this morning wasn’t any different to any of the other times.”

Clarke didn’t say anything; she just shook her head a little. Lexa groaned inwardly and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I’m sorry…” she said, “I’m just tired…”

“This is different to any of the other times though,” Clarke said as she looked back at Lexa, “because every other time it was always someone else who was ultimately in charge, this time it’s all on you, and you said you weren’t going to shut me out.”

Clarke shook her head again and stood up, walking back towards the bedroom.

“Clarke…” Lexa called after her, but the blonde just kept walking, “shit…”

Luna walked out of the kitchen, slowly clapping her hands as she did so.

“Nicely done, Lexa.” She said.

“Please don’t start…” Lexa replied as she looked up at her.

“It hasn’t even been a full 24 hours yet, and you’re already doing what you said you wouldn’t.” Luna said.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied as she stood up, “and I’ve just got back from the clinic where her mother asked me to keep her out of this. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“You go in there, you tell her that you’re sorry,” Luna said, “that you didn’t mean to snap at her. You explain to her what’s going on. She’s not wanting to get involved in every little thing, Lexa, she just wants to know what’s going on. Yesterday she was quite happily getting on with her life, sure the girl that she was seeing got into a few scrapes here and there in her questionable line of work, but that was all it was. Now her life has been totally turned on its head. She’s freaking out just as much as you are.”

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a sigh, “maybe…”

“No,” the other woman said, “don’t even think it.”

“But…” Lexa started to say.

“But nothing.” Luna interrupted.

“You are a pain in the ass, you know that.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little as she looked at Luna.

“Coming from you, that’s a compliment,” Luna replied, “now go and talk to her.”

Lexa looked towards the bedroom and then back at Luna.

“Oh my god,” Luna said with a laugh, “you can take on 5 guys in my bar on your own, but you’re scared to go and talk to your girl?”

“Fighting I can do,” Lexa said, “talking is not my strong point, especially not when it comes to feelings and shit…”

“Just talk to her.” Luna replied, putting her hands on Lexa’s shoulders and walking her in the direction of the bedroom.

Lexa shook her head a little as Luna left her standing outside the bedroom. She took a deep breath and opened the door. Clarke was sitting on the bed, back resting against the headboard, looking at her phone when Lexa walked in.

“Clarke…” Lexa said as she started to walk over to the bed, “I’m sorry… I’m just…”

“Tired, yeah, you said.” Clarke replied, still not looking at Lexa.

“I’m actually kinda freaking out.” Lexa said with a small laugh, running her hand through her hair, “I’ve got no idea what I’m doing. Before, I had someone telling me what to do, you know, I worked for someone… now…”

“Now, everyone works for you.” Clarke said, finally looking up.

“No, now it’s up to me to keep everyone safe,” Lexa said as she sat on the bed, “and I messed that up already and Ryder is lying in a bed in your mom’s clinic, looking like total shit by the way, and I don’t know what to do about it…”

“What would you normally do about it?” Clarke asked as she looked over at Lexa who was sitting with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

“Find out who it was,” Lexa replied, “find them…”

“So do that,” Clarke said, moving closer to Lexa, softly placing her hand on the other girls back, “if that’s what you’d normally do, then do that.”

“I’m used to fighting against Azgeda,” Lexa said, sitting up a little and glancing back at Clarke, “or other gangs, not people I used to sit down with at least once a week to eat a meal… I just…”

“What happens if you do nothing?” Clarke asked.

“Then I look like someone who can’t take care of my own people,” Lexa replied, “I look weak…”

“Then you know what you have to do…” the blonde said, resting her chin on Lexa’s shoulder.

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a nod, “doesn’t mean I have to like it…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa pulled the car up to the curb outside the fighting gym, she looked over at Lincoln who was sitting in the passenger seat.

“You’re sure they’re here?” she asked.

“They’re here.” Tristan replied from the back seat where he was sitting with Nyko.

Lexa nodded a little and took a deep breath.

“We can deal with this.” Nyko said to her.

“You’re my people.” Lexa said, “this is as much my fight as it is yours. Let’s go.”

The four of them got out of the car, Tristan pulled a gun out of the waistband of his jeans.

“That stays here.” Lexa said, motioning to the gun, “we’re not going in there to kill them. I don’t care if Gustus made you all carry those around to every fight, that isn’t how I do things.”

Tristan nodded and put the gun under the front seat of the car.

“Have you ever actually carried a gun?” Nyko asked Lexa as she put her jacket in the car and locked it up.

“No,” she replied, “they make it too easy to kill someone, and if a death is easy like that you’re saying that someone’s life didn’t mean anything. If I’m going to kill someone then there has to be a reason for it…”

Lincoln opened the door of the gym and Lexa walked in first, the three of them walking in behind her. It didn’t take them long to find Lucian and Artigus, they were with the small group who weren’t now quietly making their way to the exit towards the back of the gym.

“Well, well, well…” Lucian said, cracking his knuckles as he stood up from the bench he had been sitting on, “if it isn’t the traitors.”

“Traitors?” Lexa asked, a smirk firmly in place on her face, “I’m not the one who put a friend of mine in hospital last night.”

“Just following orders.” Lucian replied.

“I’m going to give you one chance,” Lexa said, “I shouldn’t, but I will. This is going to get very messy, very quickly, if we continue to fight each other. This isn’t what I wanted, I didn’t start this violence, but I will end it if I have to…”

“This is exactly what you wanted,” Lucian said, walking a little closer to Lexa, “you think you can run this family better than Gustus, then you have to do it the old fashioned way. You and your cousins think you can just simply take over, that isn’t the way this works.”

“That is exactly the way this is going to work,” Lexa replied, standing her ground, “I don’t know about you, but I refuse to stand by and watch as this family loses ground to another gang simply because Gustus refuses to do anything about it. I’ve watched friends bleed for this territory, I am not going to stand by as he gives it away.”

“I’m out of here.” One of Lucian’s friends said.

Lexa’s eyes trailed him as he left the gym.

“Lexa…” Lincoln said.

“We’re not here for him.” Lexa replied, “let him go.”

“So you’d just let us walk out of here?” Artigus asked, looking at Lexa, “no payback for what we did?”

“No,” Lexa said, “you’d pay for what you did. I would do the same to you that Ryder did to Quint.”

While Lexa’s attention was on Artigus, Lucian decided to make his move and punched her in the stomach. As Lexa stumbled backwards a little Tristan, Nyko and Lincoln all moved forwards, getting involved in fighting with the others who were standing there. Lucian stepped forward again, bringing his arm around to punch Lexa in the face. The brunette easily ducked under his arm and came up behind him, before he had the chance to turn around she kicked him in the side of the knee, dropping him to the floor.

Lincoln turned his attention from the guy who he had just punched, who was now unconscious on the floor, to Lucian.

“No,” Lexa said, standing over Lucian, “this one’s mine.”

She kicked him in the ribs, hearing something crack, before she dropped down over him, her knees trapping his arms as she punched him in the face. Lucians head snapped left and then right as Lexa continued to hit him. Lincoln visibly flinched a little as Lexa brought her head down, hitting Lucian square in the nose, blood flooding down his face.

Lexa shook her head a little as she blinked a few times, before standing up and looking down at Lucian.

“Remind Gustus he has 48 hours,” Lexa said, “then I’m coming for him.”

Nyko, Tristan and Lincoln all turned to walk to the door, Lexa following behind them. She stopped when she heard movement behind her, turning just in time to see Lucian rush at her. He grabbed her by her shirt and lifted her off the ground as he turned and threw her over onto one of the grappling mats. Lexa groaned as she hit the floor, hard.

As she lifted her head she saw Nyko and Tristan grab hold of Lucian, Lincoln throwing punches at his midsection. Lexa pushed herself up, grimacing as she tried to rotate her left arm, her shoulder having become dislocated as she hit the floor. Looking around her she saw a concrete pillar, wrapped in padding, not far from where she was standing. Gritting her teeth, she walked over to it and smacked her left shoulder into it, popping it back into place.

“Well that’s going to hurt in the morning…” she mumbled to herself as she walked over to where Lincoln and the others were.

Nyko and Tristan were still holding Lucian by his arms. His head was starting to hang down and blood was dripping onto the floor.

“Enough.” Lexa said as Lincoln was about to hit him again.

Lincoln stepped back and Lexa walked over to Lucian, gripping his hair she lifted his head so he was looking at her.

“48 hours.” she said before sending an uppercut at his chin, Nyko and Tristan releasing his arms so he fell, “let’s go…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“I’m telling you, we should have taken her to the clinic.” Tristan said as he and Lincoln helped Lexa into Luna’s apartment.

“I don’t need to go to the clinic,” Lexa replied, from where she was walking between them both, “I’m fine.”

“That’s why you nearly collapsed walking up the stairs.” Lincoln said.

Octavia walked out of the kitchen when she heard Lincoln.

“Clarke…” she said, turning her head back towards the kitchen.

“Seriously…” Lexa said as she looked at Octavia.

Clarke walked out of the kitchen, followed by Luna, the blonde rushing over to Lexa as Tristan and Lincoln sat her down on the sofa.

“I’m fine…” Lexa said before Clarke could say anything.

“What happened?” Luna asked as she looked at Lexa.

“Exactly what I expected to.” Lexa replied.

“You expected to be picked up and thrown 10 foot onto the floor?” Lincoln asked.

“Oh you are such a little shit…” Lexa replied as Clarke eyes widened at what Lincoln had said.

“Lift up your shirt.” Clarke said.

“I’m fine.” Lexa said to her.

“Lift up your shirt.” Clarke repeated.

“Clarke, I’m fine.” The brunette said, “seriously.”

“So lift up your shirt.” Clarke replied.

“You probably weren’t expecting her to say that for the first time with an audience, huh?” Octavia asked with a smirk as she looked at Lexa.

Lexa couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her, which caused her to grimace a little.

“Shit…” she said, still laughing a little, “please don’t make me laugh.”

Clarke looked back at Luna.

“Can you get me some ice please?” the blonde asked.

Luna smiled a little and nodded.

“You might need to get her some for her shoulder as well.” Lincoln said.

“I swear to god I’m going to kick your ass.” Lexa said, trying to stand up as Lincoln moved to stand behind Octavia, as Clarke stopped Lexa from getting up.

Clarke put her hands on either side of Lexa’s face and turned the brunette’s face so she was looking at her not Lincoln.

“No fighting in the house.” She said with a small smile.

“Fine…” Lexa replied, a small smile playing on her lips.

Luna brought the ice out of the kitchen, handing Clarke a bowl of it and two towels.

“Now,” Clarke said, “lift your shirt.”

“Can we not do this somewhere else?” Lexa asked.

Clarke just looked at her, and Lexa let out a sigh and sat back a little on the sofa.

“Fine.” Lexa grumbled as she lifted her shirt up so Clarke could see her stomach and ribs.

Clarke looked back at Luna again.

“Do you have a first aid kit, or some bandages,” she said, “I’m going to need to strap her ribs, again.”

“Seriously?” Lexa asked as she looked at the blonde, “it’s not that…”

She squirmed and tried to move back from Clarke as the blonde put a little pressure on her lower ribs.

“You were saying?” the blonde asked.

“Is that from where Lucian punched you, or from where you hit the floor?” Lincoln asked.

“The punch I think,” she replied, “my left shoulder took most of the floor hit.”

“Your left shoulder, that you dislocated a couple of weeks ago?” Clarke asked.

“No, my other left shoulder.” Lexa replied sarcastically.

Clarke put a little more pressure on Lexa’s ribs causing the girl to grimace.

“Don’t upset the medical professional.” Octavia said with a laugh.

“Can you guys give us a little bit of privacy,” Clarke said, looking at the others as Luna handed her some fresh bandages. “the shirt is going to have to come off.”

“If you wanted me to take my shirt off…” Lexa said with a smirk as she looked at Clarke.

Clarke looked down at the bandages as she tried to keep the smile off her face, as the others left the room, all going into the kitchen instead.

“Is that a smile I see…” Lexa asked, lowering her head a little so she could catch Clarke’s eyes.

“No…” Clarke replied as she looked at Lexa.

“No?” Lexa asked, “certainly looks like a smile to me.”

“Stop,” Clarke said with a shake of her head, “take your shirt off.”

“Take me out to dinner first.” Lexa said quickly, laughing as Clarke failed the fight to keep a straight face, “ouch…”

“Serves you right for being a smartass, now take your shirt off, please.” Clarke said.

Clarke busied herself with putting some ice in the middle of the towel and folding it up as Lexa took her shirt off. Lexa couldn’t stop the small smirk as she saw Clarke glance over at her before looking away and catching her lower lip between her teeth.

“See something you like Doctor Griffin?” the brunette asked, causing Clarke to blush a little.

“Put that over your ribs.” Clarke said, handing Lexa the towel with the ice, “I need to look at your shoulder, sit forward a little.”

Lexa moved forwards on the sofa and Clarke moved from the floor where she was sitting, to behind the brunette. Lexa concentrated on the cold feeling from the ice against her ribs as she felt Clarke move behind her. Closing her eyes, she tried to steady her breathing as Clarkes fingers touched her shoulder.

Clarke moved Lexa’s hair over her right shoulder, giving her a clear view of the left shoulder, Lexa’s back, and the tattoo that spanned the brunettes left side from her waistline to her shoulder blade. She had seen the bottom of the tattoo the last time she had strapped Lexa’s ribs, but she hadn’t seen the whole thing. As her fingers traced the design she heard Lexa’s breath catch in her throat.

“Sorry…” she said quietly.

“Don’t be.” Lexa replied.

Both girls jumped as they heard someone clear their throat from the hallway.

“Don’t mind us.” Raven said as she and Anya walked into the room.

“Think we interrupted something?” Anya asked Raven.

Clarke shot Raven a look.

“Your phone.” Raven said to Clarke, putting the phone down on the table.

“You can both leave now.” Lexa said, looking at the two.

“But we’ve just had a busy morning cleaning up the apartment.” Anya said with a smirk.

“Leave,” Lexa said, looking at her cousin, “now.”

Raven and Anya laughed as they walked into the kitchen.

“I knew those two would get on well…” Lexa said once they had left, “unfortunately. Anya is bad enough…”

“But Anya with Raven, that’s going to be a nightmare.” Clarke said with a small laugh.

Lexa tightened her shoulder as Clarke pressed her fingers into the soft skin around the joint.

“Sorry…” Clarke said, “How did you get it to go back in?”

“Honestly?” Lexa asked.

“Am I going to like the honest answer?” the blonde asked in reply.

“Not likely.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, which caused Clarke to laugh.

“Make a fist with your left hand.” Clarke said, watching as Lexa held her arm out and did as she asked, “Any pain?”

“No.” Lexa replied.

“Hold your arm out straight to the side.” Clarke said, the brunette did as she asked and Clarke could see her clench her jaw as she did, “pain?”

“No.” Lexa said.

“Don’t lie to me, Lexa…” Clarke said.

Lexa felt Clarke’s breath on her neck as the blonde spoke to her, which caused her to close her eyes a little.

“It’s not pain, more like tension…” Lexa replied.

“Where?” Clarke asked.

“The top of my shoulder.” The brunette replied.

“Here?” Clarke asked as she softly pressed her fingers against the top of Lexa’s shoulder.

“Yeah…” Lexa replied.

Lexa had to fight to contain the moan that very nearly escaped her mouth as Clarke started to massage the muscle in her shoulder.

“Sounds like someone likes that.” Clarke said with a small laugh, though she felt the blush creeping up her cheeks.

Lexa turned her head a little so she could see the blonde.

“You’re very good with your hands.” Lexa replied with a small smirk.

“Yeah, I’ve never had any complaints.” Clarke said with a smirk of her own, before she placed a soft kiss on Lexa’s shoulder, her eyes fixed on the brunette who bit down on her lower lip slightly.

The next kiss was on Lexa’s neck, causing the brunette to close her eyes again.

“Clarke…” she said.

“Mmmm” Clarke hummed against Lexa’s neck.

Lexa brought her left arm up, tangling her fingers in Clarke’s hair as she turned her head and guided the blonde’s lips to her own.

“Take it to the bedroom.” Luna said from the doorway of the kitchen before Clarke and Lexa could get too carried away.

Lexa laughed a little as Clarke backed out of the kiss and laid her head on the brunette’s shoulder as she turned a bright shade of red.

“I was going to say I’m going to pick Tris up from school, but it looks like you two could use the fresh air.” Luna said.

“Pick her up already?” Lexa asked, looking at the time on her phone, “it’s nowhere near the end of school yet, is she okay?”

“Did she hit someone in the face again?” Clarke asked, lifting her head from Lexa’s shoulder.

“Her teacher just called, apparently she’s sick.” Luna replied.

Lexa moved to stand up, a little too quickly.

“We’ll go.” She said as she finally stood up and put her shirt back on.

“You sure you’re up to it?” Luna asked.

“Oh please,” Lexa replied, “it’s going to take more than a few bruised ribs to stop me.”

“We still need to strap your ribs.” Clarke said, remembering they hadn’t got round to that yet.

“I’ll be fine,” Lexa said with a smile as she looked at her, “the ice helped.”

“I’m not going to win this am I?” Clarke asked as she stood up.

“Nope.” Lexa replied, placing a soft kiss on the blonde’s lips.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sat on the sofa with Tris’s head on her legs as they watched a documentary on the television.

“Where’s Clarke?” Tris asked as she turned her head and looked up at Lexa.

“She had to go to work early,” Lexa replied with a smile, “she’ll be back later, you’ll be able to see her in the morning.”

“Do you love her?” the younger girl asked.

“I don’t know,” Lexa answered honestly, a little thrown by the question, “I really like her, a lot. Why do you ask?”

“Just wondered…” Tris said, turning her attention back to the television.

Lexa started to run her fingers through the younger girls hair while she watched the television.

“It’s okay for two girls to love each other isn’t it?” Tris asked, looking at Lexa again, “cause this boy at school said it’s wrong.”

“What do you think?” Lexa asked, “Do you think it’s okay?”

“My mom said…” Tris started, stopping as Lexa shook her head a little.

“I didn’t ask what your mom thinks, I asked what you think.” The older girl said.

“I think…” Tris said, “I think it doesn’t matter if it’s two girls… if you love someone, you love them.”

“That’s a good answer.” Lexa replied with a small smile, “how did you end up talking about it at school?”

“Well, Jackson likes Megan, but Megan said she doesn’t like Jackson…” Tris said, “she said she likes a girl, but she wouldn’t tell who.”

“Megan is the kid that you had the sleep over with the other week, right?” Lexa asked.

“Yeah,” Tris said with a nod, “she’s my best friend.”

Lexa smiled a little as they both turned their attention back to the documentary.

“Lexa…” Tris said, not looking at her this time.

“Yeah…” Lexa replied.

“I think I might like girls.” Tris said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

“Do you know what I think…” Lexa said, causing Tris to look up at her, “I think that’s okay.”

“I love you.” Tris said with a smile.

“I love you too kid.” Lexa said with a smile of her own.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The apartment was quiet when Luna, Raven and Anya got back that night, the three of them looked at each other, a little alarmed at the quiet. Luna checked her room while Anya and Raven checked Tris’s room, both rooms were empty. As they walked into the living room they found out why. Lexa was asleep on the sofa, with Tris cuddled up to her side.

“I have got to take a photo of this and send it to Clarke.” Raven said, getting her phone out and taking a picture before sending it to Clarke.

Luna looked at Raven, who nodded, letting her know the picture had sent.

“Come on kid.” Luna said, picking a sleeping Tris up from Lexa, “let’s get you to bed.”

Both Raven and Anya smiled as Tris grumbled but didn’t wake up.

“What about that one?” Raven asked motioning to a still sleeping Lexa.

Anya went into the spare room and got the blanket from the cupboard, she walked back into the living room and put it over Lexa.

“Let her sleep,” Anya said, “she’s had an eventful couple of days.”

Anya and Raven left the room, turning the main light off as they did, leaving the small side lamp on as Lexa slept peacefully on the sofa.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been called evil and a tease for this chapter, I would say I'm sorry but it's wrong to lie ;) It's a lighter chapter compared to the last one, and the next chapter (which may need a rating change) will pick up from where this one leaves off. Drop me a comment, let me know what you think.

 

When Clarke got back from the clinic she found Lexa still asleep on the sofa. It had been a quiet night, so quiet that she had been able to leave earlier than she normally would. She’d been tempted to go back to her own apartment, Raven and Anya had spent the day cleaning it up so she figured that it would be okay to go back there, but then she had thought about how Lexa would react. After everything that had happened in the previous few days she was pretty sure that the other girl would lose her mind if she woke up not knowing where Clarke was.

She sat on the sofa next to Lexa’s legs and watched as the girl slept, the blonde felt that tell-tale swell of her heart as she thought how peaceful the brunette looked. Clarke found it difficult to think of everything that she knew Lexa was capable of when she saw her looking the way she did at that moment. It was hard for her to think of the things that Lexa had done. Sure, she’d only know Lexa for a couple of weeks, but in that time she had seen so many different sides to her. The Lexa she saw when they were alone was completely different to the one she saw when there were others around, and she was pretty sure that was her favourite side of the brunette.

Clarke gently reached her hand to Lexa’s face, softly brushing away some of the hair which had fallen across the brunette’s face. Her fingers then trailed down Lexa’s jaw. The brunette shifted a little but didn’t open her eyes.

“That’s kinda creepy…” Lexa said, her eyes still closed, her voice slightly husky from sleep.

“Like you haven’t done it to me before.” Clarke said with a small laugh.

“When I do it, it’s cute…” Lexa replied, fighting to keep the smirk off her face.

“Fine.” Clarke said with a fake pout, as she moved her hand, “if you think I’m creepy…”

“Hey,” Lexa said with a smile as she took hold of Clarke’s hand before she moved it too far, “I might like creepy.”

“Oh really?” Clarke asked with a smirk.

“Not really,” Lexa said with a laugh, running her fingers softly over the palm of Clarke’s hand as she looked at the blonde, “but I like you.”

“Smooth, Lex.” Clarke replied with a roll of her eyes.

“I’ve got to get points for effort,” Lexa said with a smile, “I have just woken up.”

“You always get points for effort.” The blonde replied with a smile of her own before she leaned forward and softly captured Lexa’s lips with her own.

“So,” Lexa said when Clarke broke the kiss, “how was work?”

“Quiet,” Clarke replied with a nod, “really quiet actually.”

“How’s Ryder doing?” the brunette asked, looking down at her hand where she was trailing her fingers across Clarke’s hand.

“He’s good,” Clarke said, “should be okay to go home in the next couple of days.”

“Good…” Lexa replied with a nod.

“Did I miss anything exciting?” Clarke asked.

“Not really,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “Oh no, wait, there was one thing. Tris thinks she likes girls.”

“I bet Luna is going to love that,” Clarke said with a laugh, “she already thinks that you’re turning Tris into a mini you.”

“I can’t help it if I’m just that awesome.” Lexa said with a smirk.

“But seriously though, how do you think she’s going to take it?” the blonde asked.

“Honestly, she’ll be cool about it,” Lexa said, “it’s Luna, it’s not like she can say that she hasn’t been there and done that.”

“Anya?” Clarke asked, causing Lexa to nod a little, “thought so.”

“Most people don’t pick up on it,” Lexa said, “they’ve had a lot of practice pretending it didn’t happen. I was ready to lock them in a room and leave them to deal with it. It was not pretty.”

“What happened?” Clarke asked in reply.

“Life,” Lexa replied with a shrug, “sometimes you can keep hold of the things you fight for, sometimes you can’t…”

“How long ago was it?” the blonde said.

“Luna was about 3 months pregnant when they finally figured it out,” Lexa said, “so about 9 years ago. Everything was going great, then Luna got arrested…”

“How long was she in prison for?” Clarke asked.

“7 years,” the brunette replied, “it would’ve been a lot less than that if she’d have turned over the other gang member that had been with her, but she didn’t. She didn’t say a word. Anya got away with it, Luna went away for it.”

“What happened to Tris?” the blonde asked.

“The state took her,” Lexa said, clenching her jaw a little, “none of us were related to Luna by blood, and Tris’s dad wasn’t around. We tried to fight for her, Anya harder than anyone, but it never happened. Then when Luna got out she got her back.”

“So what went wrong with Luna and Anya?” Clarke asked, running her fingers over Lexa’s hand as the brunette started to get a little tense.

“Anya happened,” Lexa said with a laugh, “she felt guilty about Luna taking the fall for her and messed it up all by herself. They hadn’t talked since Luna left prison up until about two weeks ago. You know that night Lincoln and Tris came to pick me up from yours, well me and Tris locked them in the study till they talked. Then Luna told me that I’m a bad influence on her kid.”

“I think you’re great with her.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“It’s easier to deal with little people.” Lexa replied, “Tris doesn’t expect anything from me, you know, I don’t have to be the tough person around her, I can just be me…”

“You know you can just be you around me as well…” Clarke said, her free hand cupping Lexa’s cheek.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a soft smile, “I’m starting to figure that out.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke woke up to find someone poking her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Tris sitting cross legged on Lexa’s side of the bed.

“She’s awake.” Tris shouted.

“Did you just wake her up?” Anya called back.

“Nope.” Tris said, a grin on her face.

“Sounds like lies to me.” Raven said, sticking her head around the bedroom door, and looking at Clarke, “Anya told her that she could have pancakes when you woke up.”

“What time is it?” Clarke asked, as she rubbed her eyes a little to wake herself up.

“Almost 1.” Raven said with a small smile.

“Okay…” Clarke replied with a sigh, dropping her head back onto the pillow as Raven walked away again, she turned her head and looked at Tris, “why aren’t you at school?”

“I’m still sick.” The younger girl said with a nod, “well I was this morning, I’m doing better now though.”

“Well that’s good,” Clarke said with a smile, “Where’s Lexa?”

“She went with Lincoln to the gym,” Tris replied, “then she said they were going to check on the warehouse, and then Grounders.”

“So,” Clarke said with a small smile, “pancakes huh?”

“Yep,” Tris said jumping down from the bed and grabbing Clarke’s hand, pulling her up on the bed, “Anya makes the best pancakes, well, Lexa’s are better, but don’t tell her I said that.”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Clarke said with a laugh.

As Tris left the room Clarke got up and walked over to the dresser, she didn’t have any clothes there, apart from the ones that she had been wearing when she went to Luna’s, so she opened the drawers and grabbed a pair of Lexa’s sweat pants and a hooded top. As she put the top on she couldn’t help smiling a little as she buried her head in the fabric, it smelt like Lexa.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was sitting with Anya as Raven and Tris played around with the little flying helicopter Raven had brought back with her from the apartment.

“I have to say I was wrong.” Anya said, glancing over at Clarke.

“About what?” The blonde asked, ducking as Raven flew the helicopter over her head, much to Tris’s amusement.

“You,” the other girl replied, “well you and Lexa. I’m still not convinced it won’t all end in total disaster, but you’re good for her.”

“Thanks…” Clarke said with a small smile, “so, what’s going on with you and Raven?”

“Me and… I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Anya said as she looked at Clarke.

“Right,” the blonde replied with a laugh, “of course you don’t.”

“She’s…” Anya said with a sigh, glancing over at Raven before looking back at Clarke, “she’s a pain in the butt.”

Clarke laughed, as everyone’s attention was drawn to the front door of the apartment opened.

“Oh, you are a total pain in the ass.” Lexa said with a laugh.

“You’re the one that’s worrying what we’re going to do with a cat,” Lincoln replied, closing the door behind them, “a cat that you don’t even own, might I add.”

“He’s a cool cat,” Lexa said as they walked into the living room, “and technically, no one owns him, I was just thinking, if I do have to give up my apartment… maybe the person who moves in there next won’t like cats, he’ll be all confused…”

Lexa stopped talking when she saw the amused look on Clarke’s face.

“Hi…” Lexa said with a smile.

“Hey.” Clarke replied with a smile of her own, “you still don’t know what to do about the cat huh?”

“What cat?” Raven asked, looking between Clarke and Lexa.

“The cat that Lexa let into her apartment one night when it was raining,” Anya said, “I told you that wouldn’t end well.”

“I think it’s kinda cute…” Clarke said.

“Yeah?” Lexa asked as she walked over to the chair where Clarke was sitting and leant over the back, softly placing a kiss on Clarke’s lips as the blonde girl looked at her.

“Yeah.” Clarke replied.

“Excuse me while I vomit.” Anya said, shaking her head at the sight in front of her.

“Oh you’re just jealous.” Lexa replied, arching her eyebrow a little.

“Blondes really aren’t my type.” Anya said with a smirk.

“What is your type?” Raven asked.

“Yeah, Anya,” Lexa said, sitting on the arm of the chair that Clarke was sitting in, “tell us, what is your type?”

“Are we forgetting that there’s a child in the room…” Anya said, looking over at where Tris was more interested in the helicopter than the conversation.

“Chicken shit.” Lexa replied.

“Unlike you I’m just trying not to corrupt the child,” Anya said with a smirk, “I don’t think Luna would appreciate us turning her daughter even more gay than she probably already will be.”

“Little too late for that…” Lexa mumbled to herself, before she looked at Clarke, “I was hoping to be back before you woke up.”

“Tris woke me up for something really important.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“Something that is more important than sleep?” Lexa asked.

“Pancakes.” The blonde replied with a nod.

“You little traitor,” Lexa said, standing up and walking over to Tris, “you told me that my pancakes were better than Anya’s.”

“But you weren’t here,” Tris said with a smile as she looked up at Lexa, “gotta take what you can get, right.”

“That’s true.” Lexa replied with a small laugh as she sat down next to Tris, “wanna show me how this thing works?”

“Raven is better,” Tris said, “she flew it over Clarke’s head, I thought she was going to hit her with it.”

Lexa looked at Raven who held her hands up a little.

“There was at least 5cm between the bottom of the helicopter and the pretty blonde’s head,” she said, “do not look at me like that.”

“Oh,” Lincoln said, causing everyone to look at him, “Octavia wanted to know what everyone wants for dinner, apparently she’s going to be ordering pizza or something.”

“Pizza sounds good.” Clarke said with a nod.

“That’s something I wanted to talk to you about…” Lexa said with a small smile as she stood up and walked back over to where Clarke was sitting, “I already talked to your mom and she said that she doesn’t need you there tonight, so I was thinking…”

“You talked to my mom about me getting the night off work without running it past me first?” Clarke asked.

“Whoops…” Raven said.

“Not exactly,” Lexa replied, “it was more like she mentioned in passing that she probably wouldn’t need you there…”

“Before or after you told her about what you wanted to talk to me about?” the blonde asked.

“Er…” Lexa said, glancing down at her hands, “okay, so maybe I should have talked to you about it first.”

Raven started laughing, which caused everyone to look over at her.

“Oh come on,” she said, “how can you not all see the funny side to this. 90% of the people in this city are scared of Lexa, and right now she’s getting told off by a cute little blonde doctor who couldn’t hurt a fly, this is funny shit.”

“Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else.” Lexa said, glancing over at Raven before she looked back at Clarke, holding her hand out towards the blonde.

Clarke stood up and took Lexa’s hand, letting the brunette lead her to the bedroom.

“Okay,” Clarke said, sitting on the bed as Lexa closed the bedroom door, “explain to me again how you got my mom to give me a night off work.”

“I realised that we’ve spent the last few nights sleeping in the same bed,” Lexa said, “and I haven’t even taken you out on a date yet, so I decided to ask your mom what your favourite food was… just so I could get an idea about where to take you…”

“You want to take me out on a date?” Clarke asked with a small smile.

“Well yeah, that’s usually the way this shit goes, right?” Lexa asked.

“Usually,” Clarke said with a nod, “but nothing about this whole situation is usual or normal is it.”

“I already kinda booked a table…” Lexa mumbled.

“And where are you going to pick me up from, Lex?” Clarke asked, trying to keep the small smile off her face, “the apartment I can’t go back to? And what am I supposed to wear…?”

“Lincoln already said he’ll come back to your apartment with you, so you can get ready, maybe get some clothes together and bring here… or take to your moms, or wherever you want to stay, because I’m just assuming that you’re okay staying here with me, but I do need to go back to my apartment, see what’s going on there, and…”

Clarke stood up from the bed and walked over to Lexa, she stopped her talking by kissing her.

“You were rambling.” Clarke said with a small smile as she backed out of the kiss a little.

“Happens sometimes when I’m nervous…” Lexa said, biting her bottom lip slightly.

“Big bad gangster getting nervous about taking a girl out on a date?” Clarke asked with a smirk.

“I don’t, usually,” Lexa replied with a small laugh, “but this is important…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa had gone back to her apartment to get ready for her date with Clarke. Anya had gone with her just in case anything was amiss, but as Lincoln had pointed out to her earlier nobody could get in Lexa’s building without a key, so it should be okay. Octavia, Raven and Tris were helping Clarke get ready at Luna’s.

“Are we going for ‘look at me I’m really cute’ or ‘look at me you know you want to rip my clothes off’?” Octavia asked from where she was sitting on the bed.

“Why would Clarke want Lexa to rip her clothes off?” Tris asked from her position on the bed next to Octavia.

“It’s just something that adults do sometimes,” Octavia replied with a smile as she looked at the younger girl, “you’ll find out all about it when you’re older… a lot older.”

“I say you wear the skirt.” Raven said, reaching over and taking the skirt from the pile of clothes, “Pair it with that black shirt you have, you know the one you can kind of see through in certain light, and she’ll be…”

“Let’s not finish that sentence,” Clarke said, interrupting Raven before she could finish what she was saying, “okay, so the skirt with the shirt…”

“Leather jacket,” Tris said, climbing over Octavia and grabbing the jacket, before handing it to Clarke, “with your hair down…”

“Or part up, part down,” Octavia said, “that’d look cute, right?”

“If she wants to go for cute,” Raven said, “I think they’re past the cute stage.”

“You two are gonna have sex…” Tris said, her eyes widening a little as she looked at Clarke, while Raven, Octavia and the blonde all looked at her in shock.

“Okay, now I know that wasn’t my fault.” Raven said.

At that moment Luna stuck her head around the door.

“How’s it going in here?” She asked.

“Lexa and Clarke are gonna have…” Tris started to say, stopping only when Octavia put her hand over the younger girls mouth.

“We don’t need to hear you say it again…” Octavia said.

“Do I even want to know?” Luna asked, looking at Clarke and Raven.

“She’s talking about that thing that happens between two consenting adults who happen to care about each other…” Raven replied.

“Right,” Luna said with a nod, “I don’t want to know, nor do I want to know who taught her that word.”

“Mr Lucas said it at school one day.” Tris said with a shrug, after Octavia had moved her hand, “he said it’s where babies come from. When a mommy and a daddy love each other…”

“When I was 8 I didn’t even know where babies came from.” Octavia said, looking at the younger girl, “what happened to parents bringing their kids up with Disney movies?”

“Sex isn’t something that only happens between a mommy and a daddy,” Luna said as she looked at Tris, “you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Tris said with a nod, “me and Lexa already talked about how it’s okay for a girl to like a girl.”

“I’d say it’s more than okay.” Raven said with a small smile.

“Why didn’t you come to me about that, Tris?” Luna said as she walked over to the bed where Tris was sitting.

“Cause Lexa likes girls,” Tris replied with a shrug, “and she… kinda knows what it’s like.”

“Me and you need to have a talk,” Luna said, kissing her daughter on the head, “there’s a few things you need to know. Help Clarke get ready, then we’ll talk, okay?”

Tris nodded a little.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Will you calm down already?” Anya asked as she watched Lexa pace up and down in her living room, “We already know the girl likes you, so that’s not a problem.”

“I just don’t want to mess this up.” Lexa replied with a sigh, “I don’t usually date, haven’t since…”

“I know, and we all know how well that turned out.” Anya said, causing Lexa to shoot her a look, “Well we do, it didn’t exactly end well, for anyone.”

“Costia had her reasons for leaving.” Lexa said, “I don’t blame her actually…”

“Clarke knows about what you do, she knows about your life,” the older girl replied, “she’s not going to run if your date sucks.”

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a sigh as she sat on the sofa.

“It’s going to be fine,” Anya said, trying to reassure her cousin, “she’s mad about you, we all know that. So, you take her out for dinner, then what?”

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied, “we could stop off at Luna’s bar, have a couple of drinks…”

“Then what?” Anya asked, “you going to bring her back here or are you both going to Luna’s?”

“Bringing her back here is just going to look like I’m assuming something is going to happen…” Lexa said, running her hand through her hair.

“I think we’re all assuming something is going to happen.” Anya said as she looked at Lexa.

Lexa didn’t say anything, she just rested her head back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling.

“I think we’re actually all hoping it’s going to happen,” Anya continued, “the sooner you two get that out of the way, the sooner the sexual tension disappears.”

“Talking of sexual tension, you and Raven?” Lexa asked, turning her head as she looked at Anya.

“There is nothing going on with me and Raven.” Anya replied.

“But you like her though,” the other girl said with a smirk, “we’ve all seen the way you two are with each other.”

“What are you thinking about wearing?” Anya asked, changing the subject completely.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Do we knock?” Lexa asked as she and Anya walked up to Luna’s door.

“Idiot, we’re pretty much living here right now.” Anya replied as she opened the door and walked into the apartment.

Lexa took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Lincoln put his head out of the door.

“Come on badass, you’ve got this” he said with a small smile.

Lexa nodded a little, a small smile playing on her lips, before she followed Lincoln into the apartment. They walked into the living room to find Tris, Raven and Octavia sitting on the sofa playing some driving game on the x-box.

“Clarke,” Raven yelled, “Lexa’s here.”

“Thanks for that Raven…” Lexa said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, no problem.” Raven said with a smile, glancing over at Lexa, “wow… I mean, good outfit choice.”

Tris started laughing.

“What’s funny?” Lexa asked.

“You made Raven crash her car.” The younger girl said, still laughing.

“Massive compliment,” Octavia said, her eyes still glued to the screen, “nothing usually causes Raven to crash.”

“Have you seen what she’s wearing?” Raven asked Octavia, causing the other girl to look at Lexa.

“I would…” Octavia said with a shrug before turning her attention back to the game, “you know, if I wasn’t with Lincoln…”

“So you two finally figured that out huh?” Lexa asked with a smile.

“Er…” Octavia replied, “well… maybe…”

Tris threw her arms in the air as Octavia also crashed her car.

“I win.” She said, before putting the controller down and running over to Lexa, who picked her up, “you do look really pretty.”

“Thanks kid.” Lexa said with a smile.

Lexa noticed how Tris gave someone behind her a thumbs up, she also saw the small smiles on both Raven and Octavia’s faces. She turned around to see Clarke standing there.

“Wow…” Lexa said as she took in what Clarke was wearing.

“You didn’t tell me where we were going, so…” Clarke replied, her eyes travelling the length of Lexa’s body, from her boots, up her leather trousers to the open white shirt she was wearing with a black top underneath, her leather jacket over the top.

“You look…” Lexa said, suddenly forgetting how to form a sentence in her head, “you look perfect, actually…”

“You can put me down and go kiss her you know…” Tris whispered in Lexa’s ear.

Lexa laughed a little and put Tris down before she walked over to Clarke.

“Hey…” she said with a small smile.

“Hey…” Clarke replied, her hands going to Lexa’s jacket as she pulled the brunette closer to her and softly kissed her.

“The whole point of you two going out on a date is so that you can do that somewhere else.” Anya said from where she was sitting.

Raven threw a cushion at Anya’s head.

“Stop being an ass.” Raven said.

“Shall we…” Lexa said as she motioned to the door after she backed out of the kiss.

Clarke nodded, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth as she smiled a little.

Lexa opened the front door and let Clarke leave first, just as she was about to close the door behind them she heard something that made her stop.

“Enjoy your sex.” Tris called from where she was now seated again between Octavia and Raven on the sofa.

Lexa stopped and turned back around, Clarke was fighting the laugh that was threatening to escape her.

“I’m sorry, what?” Lexa asked as she looked at the younger girl, noticing that Raven had nearly fallen off the sofa as she laughed.

“It’s something that happens between two consenting adults who care about each other.” Tris said with a nod.

Lexa looked at the others in the room, Anya was fighting so hard to keep the smile of her face that Lexa thought she may actually burst, Lincoln was looking a little more shocked than amused, Octavia was finding the whole thing very entertaining and Raven was now lying on the floor as she laughed.

“Do I want to know?” Lexa asked Clarke as she turned and looked at the blonde.

“Probably not.” Clarke replied, shaking her head a little as she reached out and took Lexa’s hand, “let’s go.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this part picks up where the last part left off, it totally kicked my ass, and I'm not sure if the Mature rating is enough. Let me know what you think. Enjoy.

 

As Lexa drove her car through the city, Clarke was trying to figure out where they were going.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” the blonde asked, glancing over to the other girl.

“Nope.” Lexa replied with a smirk.

“You could have told me earlier, then I would know if I’m overdressed…” Clarke said, as they reached a stop sign, crossing her legs.

She couldn’t stop the small smile that played on her lips as she saw Lexa look over at her and bite her lower lip slightly as she watched Clarke cross her legs.

“You look perfect…” Lexa said, blush creeping onto her cheeks when she saw the smile on Clarke’s lips, “you always look perfect.”

“Liar,” Clarke said with a laugh, “I highly doubt I look perfect when I first wake up.”

“You’re right,” Lexa said with a nod, “when you first wake up you look adorable.”

“You’re going all out with the flattery tonight aren’t you.” Clarke said with a smile as she looked at Lexa.

“Well I figured, if I do that on the way to the place we’re going, then if I mess it up while we’re there then there’s more chance of you forgiving me for it.” Lexa said, flashing Clarke a grin before she looked back at the road, which caused the blonde to laugh.

Clarke looked out of the window and saw that they were nearing the river. She looked across at Lexa who simply smiled a little as she continued driving. Clarke had an idea where they were going as Lexa parked the car. There was a ship that was constantly docked on the river, for as long as she could remember Clarke had never known it to move. Lexa took her hand as they walked from the car and towards the ship. Clarke knew there was a restaurant on the ship, it had obviously been converted from a working ship into a floating restaurant.

“Okay, I have a question,” Clarke said as they neared the ship, “I know for a fact that you have to book here at least three months in advance, so how did you pull this off?”

“The owner owed me a favour,” Lexa replied with a small smile, “his son got mixed up with some not so nice people about 6 months ago. So I called him and explained that I wanted to take my beautiful girl out on the perfect date… I remembered that you said your dad used to bring you down to the river when you were a kid, and figured that this would be okay…”

“So you didn’t have to threaten anyone or anything?” Clarke asked with a smirk.

“Nope,” Lexa replied with a laugh as she shook her head a little, “there were absolutely no threats of violence.”

Clarke stopped walking before they reached the ship, Lexa stopped and looked at her, a questioning look in her eyes.

“Thank you…” Clarke said, putting her hands on Lexa’s waist before kissing her.

“No,” Lexa replied, “thank you, for not freaking out and running away…”

“How would your people react, knowing that you’re just a big softie really?” Clarke asked with a smile.

“We’re never going to find out,” Lexa replied with a laugh, “because they will never know.”

Lexa took Clarke’s hand again and walked them up the ramp to the ship. Clarke couldn’t stop looking around as they reached the restaurant area, there were lights strung up along the ceiling that looked like stars. Lexa couldn’t stop the small smile that appeared on her lips as she watched the blonde as they walked over to wait to be seated.

“Hi.” one of the waitresses said with a smile as they reached the small stand.

“Hi,” Lexa replied, “I have a reservation under Woods.”

“Of course,” the waitress said, “if you’d like to follow me.”

Lexa and Clarke followed the waitress towards the back of the restaurant and a small private booth. Clarke couldn’t stop looking around as they walked, and as they were seated they had a perfect view out onto the river.

“This place is amazing…” Clarke said as they sat down.

“Can I get you a drink while you’re looking at the menu?” the waitress asked, placing a menu down in front of each of them.

“Orange juice for me please, I’m driving.” Lexa replied with a small smile before she looked over at Clarke.

“Well if you’re not drinking…” the blonde said.

“Order whatever you want, Clarke.” Lexa said with a soft smile.

“Okay,” Clarke said, “can I get a glass of your house white, please.”

“Of course.” The waitress said, “I’ll be back in a moment with your drinks.”

As the waitress walked away Lexa picked up the menu and started to look at it, she could feel Clarke looking at her, so she lifted her head a little to look at the blonde.

“What?” Lexa asked quietly.

“Nothing…” Clarke replied with a smile before she looked down at her own menu, “wow… have you seen these prices?”

“Ignore the prices and concentrate on the food,” Lexa said with a small laugh, “I’ve got it covered.”

“Okay,” Clarke replied, “but next time I’m taking you out… somewhere a little cheaper.”

“Clarke…” Lexa said, looking up from her menu again.

“Okay, okay,” Clarke said with a smirk, “concentrate on the food…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“I had a really good time…” Clarke said as she and Lexa walked slowly down by the river.

“Good,” Lexa replied with a smile, “I’m really happy you had a good time, I usually suck at this kind of thing, but with you it’s easy…”

“Bad dating history?” the blonde asked as they reached a bench and sat down.

“Is that usually something that people talk about on their first date?” Lexa asked as Clarke rested her head on the brunette’s shoulder.

“Even though this is our first date, I think we’re past the small talk, don’t you.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“We did go about this a little backwards huh.” Lexa replied.

“So, tell me,” Clarke said, “how bad was it.”

“I haven’t actually dated much,” Lexa replied honestly, “I mean, in High School it was the usual trips to the movies and stuff… I’ve had one serious relationship before you.”

“What happened?” Clarke asked, cuddling closer to Lexa as the brunette put her arm around her.

“Her name was Costia,” Lexa said, “I met her in my final year at High School, her dad was a police detective. He thought he could change the world… everything was great until she took me home to meet her parents. Her dad flipped. Up until that point she had no real idea who my family were, even though she’d met Anya and Lincoln. We kept seeing each other, even though her dad hated it… Gustus sent me out on a job one night, and I got shot. That was it for her, she just couldn’t deal with it. She applied to a college out of state and left.”

“How long were you together?” Clarke asked.

“A year and a half.” Lexa replied with a sigh, “you remember when Anya said she’d seen me go off the deep end before…?”

Clarke nodded.

“That was it,” the brunette continued, “I started drinking, a lot, getting into fights. Nearly killed someone. It was not pretty.”

“But you straightened up, well as much as someone in your line of work can,” the blonde said with a laugh, “so what happened?”

“Tris actually,” Lexa replied, “I was picking her up from the family she was staying with one day and this guy got in my face, apparently I’d slept with his girlfriend or something, I really didn’t remember. He threw a few punches; I threw a few back… Tris got in the middle.”

“Was she hurt?” Clarke asked, lifting her head up to look at Lexa.

“No,” Lexa said shaking her head a little, “no, thankfully… but it certainly made me stop and think about where my life was going, what was important. Getting drunk, fighting, sleeping with random girls that I’d never remember the names of was not as important to me as that kid…”

“She is pretty awesome.” Clarke said with a small laugh.

“Yeah, she is,” Lexa said with a nod, “and she really likes you… So, your turn, dating history.”

“Well you know about Finn,” Clarke replied, “that was probably my one really serious relationship…”

“You told me how it ended,” Lexa said, as Clarke rested her head against her shoulder again, “you didn’t tell me how serious it was.”

“We got together my first year at med-school,” the blonde said, “moved in together about half way through that first year. We were talking about getting married, starting a family…”

“He’s a dick…” Lexa said, “plus, his loss is certainly my gain.”

“Smooth…” Clarke replied, kissing Lexa’s neck softly, “before him there was a couple of guys, couple of girls, nothing serious though.”

Lexa’s phone started to ring, causing the brunette to groan a little.

“Sorry…” She said to Clarke as she got her phone out of her pocket, “it’s Anya, I’m going to have to take it…”

Clarke nodded a little, a small smile on her lips.

“This better be important…” Lexa said as she answered the phone.

“Anya said you’re not coming back here tonight.” Tris said quietly.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep squirt?” Lexa asked, which caused Clarke to smile, “it’s getting late.”

“I was sleeping, then I woke up,” Tris replied, “are you staying out?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lexa said, “didn’t really plan that far ahead.”

“It would probably be better if you did stay out,” Tris said, “specially if you’re gonna be having loud sex.”

Lexa could hear Raven and Anya laughing in the background.

“Go to sleep kid.” Lexa said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Love you.” The younger girl said.

“Love you too.” Lexa replied hanging up the phone.

Lexa put her phone back in her pocket before she looked at Clarke.

“Is Raven important to you?” she asked with a smirk, “I mean, is her being alive important?”

“What did she do this time?” Clarke asked with a laugh.

“Well, that was Tris, as you probably worked out,” Lexa said, “and she said that it’s probably better if we stayed out tonight, especially if we’re going to be having loud sex. Now, Anya, I can live without, I’m just checking where we stand on Raven.”

Clarke laughed, really laughed, it was something that she felt she hadn’t done in a very long time. Then she looked at Lexa to see the other girl blushing slightly.

“Are we going to be having really loud sex?” she asked, slowly closing the distance between their lips.

“That is completely up to you.” Lexa replied, swallowing hard as her eyes flicked from Clarke’s eyes to her lips.

As Clarke captured Lexa’s lips with her own, her hands moved to tangle in the brunette’s hair. The kiss started off slow, soft, before Lexa trailed her tongue along Clarke’s lower lip. The blonde shifted position ever so slightly so she could deepen the kiss, causing Lexa to moan softly. Both girls got lost in the other, forgetting where they were until Lexa’s hand slowly trailing up Clarke’s thigh caused Clarke to back away a little. She rested her forehead against Lexa’s as they both tried to catch their breath.

“Do you wanna get out of here…?” Lexa asked.

Clarke smiled a little and nodded.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The drive back to Lexa’s apartment building seemed to take longer than Lexa remembered, that probably had more to do with Clarke’s hand on her leg and the soft patterns the blonde girl was making with her fingers, rather than the drive itself. As she parked the car, Clarke leant over and kissed her again, softly taking Lexa’s lower lip between her teeth as she backed away a little, which caused Lexa to tangle her fingers in the blonde’s hair and bring their lips back together again.

“If we don’t get out of the car I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself…” Lexa said as she backed away a little.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Clarke asked with a small smirk, before kissing Lexa again quickly before she got out of the car.

Lexa took a deep breath before moving to open the car door.

“She is going to be the death of me…” she mumbled quietly to herself as she climbed out of the car.

As soon as Lexa closed the car door, Clarke backed her into the side of the car, her hands travelling under Lexa’s leather jacket and around to the small of her back as she kissed her. Lexa’s hands fell to Clarke’s hips as she pulled the blonde closer to her, one leg slipping easily between the Clarke’s as their bodies ended up flush against each other. Clarke moaned into Lexa’s mouth as she felt the brunette grip her hips a little harder, and she felt herself grind against Lexa’s leg. Her entire body felt like it was on fire.

“Why did we wait so long to do this?” she asked breathlessly as she backed away a little.

“I have no idea.” Lexa replied before kissing Clarke again.

“Fuck…” Clarke sighed, as she pushed her hips towards Lexa’s again and the brunette trailed kisses down her neck, “Lex… we need to go inside.”

Lexa hummed her agreement against Clarke’s neck before looking up at the blonde.

“You really are beautiful, you know that…” she said, softly kissing Clarke again.

Clarke felt that she could get lost in Lexa’s lips, kissing her felt like coming home.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The elevator journey seemed to take forever, it was only four floors but it seemed to drag. Lexa was standing with her back against the elevator wall, her leg bouncing a little as she watched the numbers light up above the door. The only reason she didn’t have Clarke pinned up against the wall of the elevator was the small camera in the corner of the metal box. She knew the guy who worked night security would probably love a free show, but she wasn’t interested in giving him one.

As the doors opened Lexa took Clarke’s hand and walked down the hallway to her apartment. She struggled to get the key in the door as Clarke started kissing her neck. Eventually she got the door open and as soon as they were inside the apartment she backed Clarke into the door, kissing her hard. Clarke pushed Lexa’s jacket off her shoulders, the brunette letting it fall to the floor before she gripped onto Clarke’s hips again as their tongues glided over each other within the blonde’s mouth.

Clothes were lost on the way to the bedroom and Clarke literally felt like she was losing time as Lexa trailed kisses down her body. She tangled her fingers in the brunette’s hair as Lexa settled between her legs. Clarke pushed her head back into the pillow as Lexa teased her entrance with her fingers, her tongue flicking over her sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Fuck…” Clarke moaned as Lexa slowly pushed two fingers inside her, taking her clit between her lips and sucking softly.

Lexa couldn’t stop her own moan escaping her as she tasted Clarke in her mouth, the vibrations running up the entire length of the blonde’s body. Clarke cursed herself, she knew it wasn’t going to take long for Lexa to push her over the edge. The brunette kissed back up her body as her skilled fingers pushed deeper inside her. As their lips connected and Clarke could taste herself on Lexa’s tongue she felt her walls start to tighten around her fingers. The moans that followed were easily swallowed in Lexa’s mouth as she added another finger, bringing Clarke to the edge, curling her fingers expertly inside her she took Clarke higher than the blonde had ever been and brought her back down to earth slowly.

The kisses continued as Clarke finally started to regain some semblance of feeling in her legs.

“Fuck, Lexa…” she said with a small laugh.

“Worth the wait?” The brunette asked with a smirk.

“You know it was.” Clarke replied, kissing the girl again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No idea where this came from, I seem to be in a torturous mood lately. Happy enough ending though. Flashbacks in italics. I think there's only one or two more chapters of this to come, we'll see. Hope you all enjoy it.

She staggered backwards, her back hitting the wall of the alleyway behind her, pushing her hand against the wound in her stomach she slid to the floor. The rain was pouring, tilting her head back against the wall she felt the cold water hitting her face. Breathing was starting to become a problem, her breath coming in short sharp bursts. She looked down at her hand, moving it from her stomach, even in the darkness of the alleyway, lit only from the street light on the main road, she could see the blood coating her hand. Coughing, she cleared her throat, spitting out the blood that ended up in her mouth. Lexa had never been scared of dying, it had always been living that frightened her more.

 _Living_ , she thought to herself, that was something she hadn’t started doing until recently.

She always figured that she wouldn’t live to reach a ripe old age, the lifestyle she had, the job she did, it didn’t exactly lend itself to a long life. Narrowing her eyes a little she looked over to the other side of the wet alleyway, to the shadow of the person she knew was lying there. She couldn’t see from where she was sitting if his chest was rising and falling or not, she had no idea if he was still alive, the sounds of his laboured breathing had been drowned out by the rain some time ago.

“I really didn’t want it to come down to this…” she said, looking at him, “you were my family… you raised me… you should’ve… left, you should’ve left.”

She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, with a groan she reached her left hand to her right side and took it out. Focusing her eyes the best she could she looked at the caller ID before hitting answer and bringing the phone up to her ear.

“Lexa?” Bellamy asked, “where the hell are you, it doesn’t take that long to drop Clarke off at work, we’re waiting on that pizza.”

“I need help…” Lexa said, struggling to get her words out.

“Where are you?” he asked in reply.

“Grounders,” Lexa said, “alleyway…”

“Hold on,” Bellamy said, “we’re coming.”

Lexa hung up the phone and struggled to sit up a little straighter against the wall. Looking down at the phone in her hand she brought up the most recent text conversation she’d had with Clarke. It had been from earlier that day when Lexa had left the blonde sleeping in bed when she had gone out to get breakfast.

 

_“You know,” Clarke said, as soon as she closed the apartment door, “I’ve had people skip out on me before I wake up, but never when I was in their apartment.”_

_Lexa rolled her eyes a little as she walked through to the living room. Stopping in her tracks when she saw Clarke standing at the island in the kitchen area in nothing but one of her t-shirts._

_“Like I said in the texts,” she said walking over towards the blonde, putting the food on the island before pulling Clarke towards her, “I needed to get food… my clothes look good on you…”_

_“Yeah?” Clarke asked with a small smile._

_“Yeah.” Lexa replied, closing the distance between their lips, she backed away a little, “they look good off you too.”_

_“Did you get the cat food?” Clarke asked with a smirk._

_“You want to talk about that now?” Lexa asked, backing away from the blonde a little more, but keeping her hands on her hips._

_“Deciding on acquiring a pet together is a serious conversation.” Clarke said, fighting to keep the smile off her lips and failing as Lexa dropped her lips to the blonde’s neck._

_“Yes,” Lexa said, kissing Clarke’s neck, “I got the cat food.”_

 

Blinking her eyes a few times she tried to type out a text to the blonde with one hand. Trying to hit each letter on the touchscreen was becoming a serious problem. Writing out those three little words, three little words that she should have said when she had the chance, she hit send before the phone clattered to the floor.

As she coughed again she thought about the plans that she had for the following day, she was supposed to be taking Tris to a baseball game…

_“Seriously?” Tris asked as she jumped on Lexa’s knee, “you got tickets for the game?”_

_“Yeah,” Lexa replied, “me, you and Clarke.”_

_Tris nodded a little._

_“Is it okay that Clarke comes?” Lexa asked the younger girl, “I know it’s usually our thing…”_

_“It’s okay,” Tris said, resting her head against Lexa’s shoulder as she sat down properly on her lap, “I like Clarke, lots, and she makes you smile again…”_

 

“Sorry kid…” Lexa said as she started coughing again.

She heard a car pull up at the end of the alleyway, turning her head a little she saw two people coming towards her, though she couldn’t really get her eyes focused enough to see who it was.

“Fuck…” Raven said, “Well that’s gonna leave a mark…”

“Check him.” Bellamy said motioning over to Gustus who was lying in a pool of his own blood, as he crouched down next to Lexa, “you’re going be okay…”

“Liar…” Lexa said with a small smile.

“He’s gone.” Raven said shaking her head a little as she walked over to Lexa and Bellamy, she looked at Lexa, “is it over?”

“Yeah…” Lexa said with another cough as she nodded a little, “it’s over…”

“Come on.” Bellamy said, moving round to Lexa’s left side and putting her arm over his shoulder, while his arm went around her waist, “we’ve gotta get you up.”

“Hospital?” Raven asked looking at Bellamy.

“I already called the clinic…” he said as he tried to help Lexa stand.

“Bet Clarke loved that.” Raven replied.

“I didn’t talk to Clarke.” He said.

Lexa called out in pain as she tried to stand.

“I’m really sorry about this,” Bellamy said, crouching down a little and putting one hand behind Lexa’s legs, “But I’m going to have to carry you.”

“Drop me…” Lexa said, holding back a cough as she looked up at him when he picked her up, “and Clarke will… kick your ass.”

“Oh don’t I know it,” Bellamy said with a laugh, trying to keep everything as normal as possible, “Raven, open the car door, she’s going to have to go on the backseat.”

Raven rushed to open the door as Bellamy carried Lexa towards the car.

“I need you to… to do something for me.” Lexa said quietly to him.

“Yeah, and what’s that?” Bellamy asked.

“Take care of Clarke for me…” Lexa said, coughing again.

“See, I don’t need to do that, cause you’re going to be doing that for a long time yet.” He said, as he reached the car.

“Bellamy…” Lexa said as he got her on the backseat of the car, “promise me…”

“I promise.” He said with a nod.

Raven pushed the passenger seat forward and climbed into the backseat, putting pressure on the wound in Lexa’s stomach as Bellamy closed the back door and rushed around to jump into the drivers’ seat.

As he started driving the car he hit a button on his phone, calling his partner at the police station.

“It’s your night off, Blake.” Came the answer.

“There’s a body in the alleyway next to Grounders bar,” Bellamy said, concentrating on the road as he drove a little too quickly, “don’t ask me how it got there, I can’t tell you. It’s Gustus Trikru.”

“Great,” his partner said, “the city is going to descend into all out gang warfare tomorrow.”

“I don’t think so…” Bellamy replied, looking into the rear-view mirror.

“Come on, Lexa…” Raven said, putting more pressure on the wound as Lexa’s head fell to one side, her eyes closed.

“How’s she doing?” Bellamy asked.

“Not good…” Raven replied, looking at him.

“What’s going on Bellamy?” his partner asked.

“Nothing I can talk about right now,” he said, turning the corner towards the clinic, “just get that body picked up.”

He hung up the phone.

He pulled the car up outside the clinic, leaving it running as he jumped out of the seat, opening the back door he pulled Lexa out of the car, while Raven got out of the other side, her hands covered in blood. She ran to the clinic with Bellamy following behind her, holding open the door so he could get Lexa inside.

“I need some help here.” He said.

Abby was already waiting at the reception desk.

“When did she lose consciousness?” Abby asked, motioning for Bellamy to follow her to one of the private rooms.

“In the car,” He said, “she was coughing and struggling to breathe when we got to her, but she was awake and talking.”

Raven stood at the reception desk, watching as Bellamy and Abby disappeared into the side room, she looked down at her hands.

“There’s a bathroom over there if you want to get that off your hands…” Harper said to her.

“Yeah, thanks…” Raven replied.

One of the other doors opened and Octavia and Clarke walked out. They both looked confused at seeing Raven there.

“Hey Raven.” Octavia said with a smile, the smile quickly dropping from her face when she saw Raven’s hands, “what happened?”

Both girls rushed over to her.

“It’s… it’s not mine…” Raven said.

“Raven…” Clarke said.

“Bellamy called her about the pizza, she was taking forever…” Raven said, “Gustus is dead…”

“Where is she, Raven?” The blonde asked.

“Your mom and Bell took her that way…” Raven replied, motioning to the door that Abby and Bellamy had gone through.

Clarke ran towards the door, with Raven and Octavia following quickly behind her. She threw the door open to find her mom working on Lexa, blood all over her hands, one of the nurses doing chest compressions.

“No…” Clarke said, “no…”

She moved towards the bed.

“Get her out of here.” Abby said looking at her daughter before looking back down at Lexa.

“No, I need to be here.” Clarke said as Bellamy wrapped his arms around her waist so she couldn’t get to Lexa.

“There’s nothing you can do, Clarke,” Abby said, “you cannot be in here. Octavia, I need you.”

Octavia nodded and walked past Clarke and Bellamy.

“She’s in good hands, Clarke.” Octavia said, walking over to the bed, “what do you need me to do?”

“Come on…” Bellamy said to Clarke, “Let your mom do her thing…”

“I need to be here, Bell…” Clarke replied.

“We need to call Anya, Lincoln… Indra…” Raven said from the doorway.

Clarke nodded a little, looking over at the bed again before she turned and let Bellamy walk her out of the room.

“I need to get my phone.” Clarke said, walking towards the locker room.

Bellamy and Raven stood outside the locker room, looking anywhere but at each other.

“She’s going to be okay, right?” Raven asked.

“I don’t know,” Bellamy replied honestly, “I’m no doctor, but she looks bad… real bad.”

Raven nodded a little, opening her mouth to say something before they heard a crash come from the locker room. Opening the door, they saw Clarke sitting on the floor, her back against the lockers, her knees pulled up to her chest with her head rested on her knees. Raven went over to her, sat down next to her, put her arms around the blonde and pulled her closer. Clarke leant into Raven as she cried. Bellamy picked up her phone from where it was sitting on the floor. He looked at the text on the screen.

 **Lexa** : I love you

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke sat in the corner of the room, the silence was deafening though she was surrounded by people. Anya sat with Lincoln, Indra sitting next to her son. Tristan, Nyko, Marius and Ryder were sitting across from them. Ryder had only been released from the clinic that day, and he was back there already. A few other people Clarke didn’t know were also in the room, along with Raven and Bellamy. Luna and Tris were also there, though Clarke was pretty sure that the young girl had no idea what was going on. From what Raven had said there were a few big scary looking guys in the waiting room as well. It had been two hours since Bellamy had carried Lexa into the clinic and the place was looking like gangland central. For the first time since they had opened the clinics doors, years before, they were closed to patients.

“You know she did this for all of us, right.” Luna said as she looked around the room.

“We didn’t ask her to.” Tristan replied.

“When did we ever have to ask Lexa to do something to protect us…” Ryder said as he looked at the floor.

“She wanted to be a lawyer when she was a kid…” Indra said, causing everyone to look at her.

“Was that before or after she wanted to be Batman?” Anya asked.

“She thought she could do both at the same time.” Indra replied with a small smile.

Clarke laughed a little at the image in her head of a young Lexa announcing she wanted to be Batman.

Tris got down off Luna’s knee and walked over to Clarke.

“Is your mom gonna be able to fix her?” she asked.

“Tris, honey…” Luna said.

“I want to know.” Tris replied, looking at her mom before looking back at Clarke, “nobody will tell me how broken she is…and I want to know.”

“Come here…” Clarke said, holding her arms out to Tris as tears burned both girls eyes, Tris sat on Clarkes knee and the blonde wrapped her arms around her, “she’s pretty broken…”

“But your mom can fix her, right?” Tris asked.

“I hope so,” Clarke said with a nod, “but sometimes, when people get broken like Lexa did, you can’t put them back together again.”

“Then she’ll go away… she always promised she wouldn’t go away.” Tris said, her head resting on Clarke’s shoulder.

“She doesn’t want to go away,” Clarke replied, hearing a few people around the room sniffle a little, “but if she does go away, she’s not really gone. She’ll be in here…”

Clarke put her hand over Tris’s heart as the young girl looked up at her.

“And in here…” Tris said, putting her hand over Clarke’s heart, causing the blonde to nod a little.

The door opened causing everyone to look over, it was Abby.

“I’ve done everything I can,” Abby said, “the rest is up to Lexa now. She’s breathing on her own, I stopped the internal bleeding. If she makes it through the night, I’ll know more.”

“She’s strong…” Indra said.

“She is,” Abby said with a small nod, “you can go in, if you want, but not all at once, one at a time.”

Everyone looked over at Clarke.

“You first.” Anya said to her.

“Do you want to come with me?” Clarke asked Tris, the younger girl nodding, “Okay, let’s go.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Octavia stood in the quiet room, the only noise coming from the beeping of the machine, she checked Lexa’s vitals. Clarke was asleep in the chair next to the bed, her head resting on the bed next to Lexa’s hand. While she was looking at the chart she heard a small groan coming from the bed. Looking up she saw Lexa open her eyes.

“Welcome back…” Octavia said with a small smile, as she walked over to the side of the bed, “I would ask you how you’re feeling, but I can tell you’re feeling awesome.”

“How long…?” Lexa asked, her throat dry.

“Three days.” Octavia said with a nod, pouring Lexa a cup of water, “this is the first time she’s slept, she’s gonna scream at me for waking her up.”

“Let her sleep…” Lexa said as Octavia helped her sit up a little so she could drink the water.

“She hasn’t left once,” the younger girl said, “Raven had to practically drag her into the shower this morning.”

Lexa laughed a little, which caused her to cough, which in turn caused Clarke to wake up.

“Hey…” Lexa said as the blonde looked at her.

“Hey.” Clarke replied with a soft smile.

“Okay,” Octavia said, “I’ll just go and… find something else to do.”

“Can you call Luna,” Clarke said to Octavia, not taking her eyes off Lexa, “I promised I’d call Tris as soon as Lexa woke up…”

“Sure thing.” Octavia replied with a smile before she left the room.

“O said that you haven’t left…” Lexa said.

“Of course I didn’t leave.” Clarke replied.

“What about the cat?” Lexa asked, causing Clarke to laugh.

“I love you.” The blonde said.

“I love you too…” Lexa replied as Clarke softly kissed her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kind of ran away with itself a little in terms of length, but hopefully it doesn't drag too much. Let me know what you think.

 

A few more days had past and Lexa felt like she was literally going crazy, Abby had told her that she still wasn’t ready to go home yet, and Lexa hated the feeling that she was trapped. Clarke had spent most days, and nights, at the clinic. Anya, Lincoln and the others had all been in to see her, her cousins keeping her up to date on what was going on outside the clinic’s walls. Gustus’s death had caused a complete power shift in the city and the violence that Lexa had expected to follow it hadn’t materialised yet. She knew it was coming, power transitions are just not that simple. Luna had been in to see her, passing on a message from Nia, apparently the woman wanted to see Lexa when she was released from the clinic. Part of Lexa was hoping that a meeting with Nia would lead to an almost peaceful existence between the two gangs, she knew it wasn’t likely but she could always hope. Violence was a way of life for them, and it had been for as long as Lexa could remember, but maybe there was a way to change that.

She was sitting on the bed, having just used the shower, after a 20-minute argument with Abby about the fact that although yes, she was still in pain and everything seemed to ache, she was more than capable of showering. The door to the room she was staying in opened and she looked over to see Clarke and Tris. She hadn’t seen the young girl since she woke up, it had been an agreement she had come to with Luna. Tris had freaked out enough at the idea of Lexa being hurt, and maybe dying, that neither of them wanted Tris to see her when she was still laying in the bed attached to the machines, it would have done the young girl no good.

“See,” Clarke said looking down at Tris who was holding her hand as if her life depended on it, “I told you she was okay.”

Lexa stood up from the bed, crouched down a little, hiding the pain she still felt from the stitched up wound to her stomach, and motioned for Tris to come over to her. The younger girl slowly let go of Clarke’s hand and walked over to Lexa, the brunette could tell that she didn’t want to get too close, probably out of fear of hurting her or something, so when the young girl stopped in front of her she pulled her closer and hugged her.

“I’m sorry we missed the ball game.” Lexa said quietly.

She had always made every effort she could to keep the promises she made to Tris, the young girl having been disappointed enough already in her short life by people breaking their promises, but this had been one that she really couldn’t keep, no matter how much she wanted to.

“We can go to the next one.” Tris replied, causing Lexa to laugh a little.

“Yeah,” Lexa said, “I guess we can.”

Tris backed out of the hug and Lexa stood up and sat back down on the bed, patting the space next to her for Tris to sit. Clarke helped the younger girl up onto the bed as her little legs were just a little too small for her to do it on her own.

“Shouldn’t you be at school?” Lexa asked, looking at Tris after she spotted what time it was on the clock on the wall.

“Er…” Tris said, looking down at her hands.

“Tris got into trouble for fighting, again.” Clarke said, “though given the circumstances her teachers agreed that Luna could just take her out of school for a few days, rather than any more disciplinary action.”

“What happened this time?” Lexa asked as she looked at the young girl.

“One of the boys at school said that you were going to die, and when you died then the Azgeda gang were going to take over, and hurt everyone I love…” Tris said quietly, “I tried to ignore him, but he just kept going on and on… so I threw a chair at his head.”

“Tris.” Lexa said with a sigh, “you need to stop fighting. I know that you get angry and I know that it’s hard, but you need to stop lashing out at people. It won’t make everything better.”

“I know, but he said you were going to die.” Tris said as she looked up at Lexa, “and you always promised me that you weren’t going to go away.”

Lexa looked at Clarke, the blonde girl shrugged and smiled a little.

“I’m right here,” Lexa said, putting her arm around the younger girl’s shoulders, “and I’m going to be right here for as long as you need me, I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

“Okay…” Tris replied with a nod.

“Actually,” Clarke said, causing both of them to look at her, “you are going somewhere. My mom said you can go home today, she actually seemed pretty relieved by it. I’m guessing you haven’t exactly been the model patient.”

“I’ve tried my best.” Lexa said with a smile, “but being stuck in one place, not being able to do anything for myself, it just irritates me. I’ll send her some flowers or something as an apology.”

“She hates flowers.” Clarke said, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Okay, so chocolates then,” Lexa said with a shrug, Clarke shook her head again, “a new heart pacing machine…?”

“She’d love you forever if you did that.” Clarke said with a laugh before sitting down on the bed next to Tris, “but I think just having you out of here would be enough for her. I think all the comings and goings have made her a little nervous, some of your people are a little… scary looking.”

“You know, I asked her this morning if I could go home,” Lexa said, glancing over at Clarke, “and she said no. Seemed pretty adamant that I wasn’t healed enough to be taking care of myself.”

“Was that before or after the 20-minute argument about you using the shower?” Clarke asked with a laugh, “you’re not going to be taking care of yourself, I’m going to be there.”

“So I get to leave the clinic but I still won’t be able to do anything for myself?” Lexa asks with a small smirk.

“I’m not coming for you,” Clarke replied, “I’m there for the cat.”

“Right,” Lexa said with a nod, “the cat, of course.”

“Does the cat have a name?” Tris asked, looking between Lexa and Clarke.

“Erm… cat?” Lexa said with a shrug.

“You cannot call a cat, cat.” Clarke said, “it doesn’t work that way.”

“Did you ever think that maybe you want to name something that already has a name?” Lexa asked, looking over Tris’s head at Clarke, “I mean, he hasn’t always been a stray, that much is obvious. Maybe he belonged to some little old lady that died, and he already had a name.”

“Well it’s not like we can ask him and find out is it.” Clarke said.

“So what do you suggest, Clarke?” Lexa asked, “calling him as many different names as you can think of and seeing which one he responds to?”

“Well, no, Lexa,” Clarke replied, “I was thinking that we can pick a name and he’ll get used to it.”

“And what if he doesn’t like it,” the brunette said, “cats are very independent animals you know, you pick a name for him and he might be all like ‘fuck this shit’ and leave.”

“Naughty words.” Tris said as she looked up at Lexa.

“Very naughty words,” Lexa replied with a nod, “words that you won’t be repeating in front of your mother.”

“You could call him Mr Mistoffelees.” Tris said quietly, causing Lexa to laugh and Clarke look very confused.

“He’s not really a Mr Mistoffelees.” Lexa replied, “he’s a bit more chilled out than that.”

“Mr who-what now?” Clarke asked.

“It’s the name of one of the cats from an old musical that Anya used to watch when she was a kid.” Lexa said with a smile, “but don’t tell her I told you that or she’ll kick my ass.”

“Can I tell Raven?” Clarke asked, a smirk playing on her lips.

“No.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, “no.”

Clarke looked down at Tris who nodded.

“Oh you two are going to get me in trouble…” Lexa said with a groan.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Clarke and Lexa arrived back at Lexa’s apartment it took all of two seconds for the brunette to realise that they weren’t alone as she heard arguing coming from the living room.

“No, you chose the last movie we watched,” Raven said, “it’s my turn.”

“Technically we didn’t agree to take it in turns,” Anya replied, “plus I have more right to be here than you do.”

“Oh is that how it’s going to be now?” Raven asked, “that’s not what you were saying last night.”

The two were so caught up in arguing that they didn’t hear Clarke and Lexa walk into the apartment.

“I swear to god, if you two had sex in my bed…” Lexa said, leaning against the wall a little as she watched the two.

They jumped from the sofa as if someone had set a bomb off underneath it, Raven tripping over the small table, causing Lexa to laugh, a lot. The laughing caused her to cough and Clarke looked at her shaking her head a little.

“You deserved that, you ass.” Clarke said as she walked over to one of the chairs and sat down.

“And here I was thinking you were supposed to be taking care of me.” Lexa replied as she dropped down onto the other chair.

“Told you already, I’m here for the cat.” The blonde said, a smirk playing on her lips.

“So,” Lexa said, looking at Raven and Anya, trying to keep the amusement from her face, “do I need a new bed?”

“We used the spare room.” Anya said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, her attention fixed on the television.

“The spare room which only has a single bed in it?” Lexa asked.

“Oh we didn’t use the bed,” Raven replied, “that’s a nice desk you’ve got in there by the way.”

“Oh my god…” Lexa said, shaking her head a little.

“And the shower is a nice size.” Anya said as she relaxed back on the sofa next to Raven.

“Enough,” Lexa said, “I don’t want to know…”

“Hey, Anya,” Clarke said, causing both Anya and Lexa to look over at her, “we’re trying to think of a name for the cat, you got any ideas?”

Anya looked over at Lexa who just shrugged as innocently as she could.

“Tris suggested Mr Mistoffelees,” Clarke continued, causing Lexa to snigger a little as she tried not to laugh, “which, you know, I think is a bit long winded…”

Anya glared at Lexa.

“What?” Lexa asked, “this has nothing to do with me.”

“Of course it doesn’t.” Anya replied, “it’s not like anyone else would’ve mentioned it.”

“Mentioned what?” Raven asked, “I’m lost.”

“When Anya was a kid,” Lexa started to say, fighting the need to laugh, “she spent a lot of her time watching this video that Gustus had… it was… er…”

“Don’t you dare.” Anya said, starting to move like she was going to stand up.

“It was a musical, right?” Clarke asked.

Lexa stood up as soon as the words were out of Clarke’s mouth and started to move towards the kitchen, Anya was up out of her seat not long after Lexa and started following her.

“Hey,” Lexa said, holding her hands up a little, “I’m still hurt, you cannot touch me.”

Anya kept walking towards her.

“Clarke…” Lexa said, looking towards the blonde for help.

“So, Raven,” Clarke said with a smirk as she looked at the other girl, “what are we watching?”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Later that night Lexa and Clarke were lying on the sofa watching some horror film, and Lexa groaned and grabbed one of the cushions and put it over her head as more noises came from the spare room. Clarke couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in her chest.

“Well at least they’re not trying to hide it anymore.” Clarke said as she looked up at Lexa from where her head was rested on the brunette’s chest.

“They can go and not hide it somewhere else.” Lexa replied, raising her voice a little in the hope that Anya and Raven would hear her.

“Apparently Octavia and Lincoln are at my apartment,” Clarke said, “so they really have nowhere else to go right now.”

“Maybe I could just get that room sound-proofed or something…” Lexa said.

“That sounds like a plan.” Clarke replied.

“Yeah, then I get the fun of explaining to Tris the next time she wants to stay over, that Anya and Raven turned her room into a sex play room…” Lexa said, “oh god, the kid is going to need a new bed…”

Clarke just laughed a little as she laid her head back on Lexa’s chest.

“Or maybe I should just start looking for a bigger place to live,” Lexa continued, more to herself than Clarke, “I mean, with everyone wanting to stay over and have sex in my house, when I can’t even have sex in my own house right now…”

“Have you talked to Indra yet?” Clarke asked, glancing up at Lexa again.

“Not yet, I’m not sure what to say to her, ‘sorry I killed your husband’ doesn’t seem like it’s going to cut it…” Lexa replied, “why?”

“It was either you or him, Indra knows that.” Clarke replied softly.

“Yeah, but still…” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “I’m surprised Anya hasn’t said anything about it, I mean he was her dad, you know…”

A knock at the door caused both girls to look at each other.

“You expecting anyone?” Clarke asked.

“The only people who know I’m out of the clinic are you, Raven, Anya and Tris…” Lexa said as Clarke sat up, struggling to sit up herself.

“I’ll get it.” Clarke said with a small smile, indicating to Lexa to stay where she was.

The blonde walked to the door.

“Bell…” she said with she opened the door, “something I can help you with.”

“Is Lexa here?” Bellamy asked.

“What’s this about?” Clarke asked, pulling the door closer to her to stop the guy that was with Bellamy looking into the apartment.

“You know what this is about, Clarke.” Bellamy replied.

“She’s just got out of the clinic, and you want to do this now?” Clarke asked, trying to keep her anger in check.

“Excuse me, Miss,” the other guy said, “we’re here as part of a murder investigation.”

“My name is Clarke,” Clarke said, “and I’m doctor, and my professional opinion is that Lexa isn’t ready to be interviewed yet.”

Lexa got up from the sofa and walked towards the front door, banging on the door of the spare room as she passed.

“Do you two rabbits want to cut it out, the cops are here.” Lexa said before she moved to stand behind Clarke, “Detective Blake, Detective Cage, how lovely to see you both again.”

“Lexa,” Bellamy said with a small smile, “you know why we’re here…”

“Yeah, I do.” She said with a nod, “just let me get my jacket and put some shoes on, then I’m all yours.”

“Lexa…” Clarke said, turning to look at the brunette.

“Might as well get it over with.” Lexa said as she walked back into the apartment.

“Does she have to come with you?” Clarke asked, looking at Bellamy and Cage.

“It would be easier.” Cage said with a nod, “if she comes with us now, it’ll save us a job of leaving with her later.”

Clarke decided in that moment that she didn’t like Bellamy’s partner.

“Bell…” she said.

“Her phone was found at the scene, Clarke,” he said, “along with a big pool of her blood…”

The spare room door opened and Anya and Raven walked out, both looked at Lexa who was putting her sneakers on before they looked at the detectives who were standing at the door.

“You cannot be serious right now…” Anya said.

“We’re just doing our job.” Bellamy said to the girl.

“She literally died three days ago and you’re wanting to drag her down to the police station?” Anya asked, looking at Bellamy.

“She killed your father, Miss Trikru.” Cage said to Anya.

“It was self-defence and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t talking to you.” Anya replied, glaring at him before looking back at Bellamy.

“Anya, you’re not helping.” Lexa said, walking up behind them, “are you arresting me?”

“Not as yet.” Bellamy said, “right now we just need to get your version of events.”

“There has got to be CCTV footage that shows you what happened,” Anya said, “I know for a fact that there are at least 3 cameras in that alleyway.”

“We have our team working on going through that.” Bellamy said with a nod as he looked at Anya.

Raven narrowed her eyes a little and went back into the spare room, she got her laptop out before walking back out of the room.

“Though from what I’ve been told, most of the footage is unclear.” Cage said, his eyes focused on Lexa.

“Funny that,” Lexa said to him, “they’re state of the art cameras, each one cost me nearly 3 grand to install.”

“Oh that’s right,” Cage said, “that is your club.”

“Yes it is,” Lexa replied with a nod, “and those cameras are my property, as the city refused to put any in, which means that any footage from them is legally mine, and I’m curious as to how you got it without a warrant.”

“It’s a murder investigation, Miss Woods.” Cage said, “in which you are our prime suspect.”

“You still need a warrant,” Lexa said, noticing the small smile ghosting Bellamy’s lips, she turned and looked at Anya, “Anya, call my lawyer, have him meet us at the station.”

“Sure.” Anya said with a nod.

“Let’s go, Miss Woods.” Cage said, reaching out and grabbing Lexa’s arm.

“Get your hands off me,” Lexa said, pulling her arm back away from him, “if you’re not arresting me then that is assault.”

“I’m going to enjoy locking you up.” He said as he stepped back and let her walk from the apartment.

“And I’m going to enjoy the look on your face when you realise that you don’t have a legal leg to stand on.” Lexa replied.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa had been sitting in the interview room for nearly an hour when Bellamy and Cage finally walked in.

“Sorry for the delay Miss Woods.” Cage said as he and Bellamy sat opposite Lexa.

“I’m sure you are,” she replied before she looked at Bellamy, “any word on those painkillers?”

“The doctor is on her way.” Bellamy said with a nod.

“Great,” Lexa said, “let’s get this over with.”

“Now, Detective Blake and I witnessed your cousin, Anya, claim that the attack on Gustus Trikru was self-defence.” Cage said, “I fail to see…”

“Are you going to hit record?” Lexa said, motioning to the buttons that were on the table, one for audio recording the other for video, she knew neither had been pressed.

“This is an informal interview, Miss Woods.” He said.

“I’d still prefer for it to be recorded,” Lexa replied, “for legal purposes, if this does go to court then I would be a little more confident in your ability as a Detective if this was all on record.”

Bellamy brought his hand up to cover his mouth, hiding the smile that Lexa knew was there.

“Something amusing, Blake?” Cage asked.

“Nope,” Bellamy said shaking his head a little, “not at all.”

Cage hit both buttons to record both audio and video.

“I will start the question again, your cousin claimed that the attack on Gustus Trikru was self-defence,” Cage said, “I am, however, curious about how it was self-defence for you to attack a man who was responsible for your parent’s death.”

“What?” Lexa asked, looking between Bellamy and Cage.

“The drive-by that caused your parents death,” Cage said, knowing that Lexa had no idea what he was talking about, “I did a little digging in the cold case files, and there were witnesses who said it wasn’t a drive-by, that it was actually a hit.”

“You’re full of shit.” Lexa stated.

“On the contrary Miss Woods,” Cage said opening the file that he had on the table in front of him, “here we have a witness statement from an old associate of your uncle’s, who is now in witness protection, which clearly states that he was present when your uncle put the hit on your parents. Your father was considering moving you and your mother out of state, away from the gang lifestyle, and your uncle believed he knew too much to go quietly.”

“Did you know about this?” Lexa asked Bellamy, who just shook his head a little.

“And we have another three statements that say the same thing,” Cage continued, “Gustus placed a call to a woman named Nia, about… disposing of your parents, but not you.”

“As far as I knew, at the time it was an accident,” Lexa said, “it wasn’t until I was 14 that I was told it was a drive-by, by the Azgeda. So you trying to use that as a motive for why I ended up fighting with my uncle is ridiculous.”

“Why were you fighting with your uncle?” Cage asked.

“He wouldn’t get me a new pony.” Lexa replied, sitting back in her seat a little.

A knock on the two-way mirror stopped the questions. Cage looked at Bellamy before hitting stop on the recording and standing up, before he walked out of the room, leaving Bellamy and Lexa alone.

“What the hell, Bellamy…” Lexa said quietly, knowing that they were still being watched through the mirror.

“I knew nothing about that,” Bellamy said, “all the cold case files involving your uncle were sealed, I had no access to them.”

“So how did he get access to them?” Lexa asked.

“I don’t know,” Bellamy replied, “he’s always been a bit of a shady character, his dad was the governor of the city up until about 3 months ago, he could have used his connections to get the files unsealed.”

“Can I expect any more surprises?” Lexa asked.

“I don’t know…” Bellamy started to say, stopping himself as the door opened.

“The doctor has arrived,” Cage said, stepping aside as Abby walked into the room.

Lexa fought to keep the smile off her face as Abby walked over towards the table.

“Doctor Griffin,” Lexa said, “what a lovely surprise.”

“Lexa,” Abby replied, “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see you again so soon.”

“Oh my pride is hurt, doc.” Lexa said with a smirk.

“You were released from the clinic with strict instructions that you were to remain under medical supervision.” Abby said as she put her medical bag down on the table.

“Well these two lovely detectives stopped by and had a few questions for me,” Lexa said, “it would be rude to refuse.”

“You’re the doctor who originally treated her?” Cage asked looking between the two.

“Indeed I am,” Abby said, “and I am the police on-call doctor for the next three nights, so unless you wish to wait another three days to ask Miss Woods your questions, then allow me to check my patient.”

Lexa smirked a little at Cage as Abby moved to lift up her shirt, pulling back the bandages that covered the wound.

“You really shouldn’t be up and moving around.” Abby said quietly to Lexa.

“I know,” Lexa replied, “but I really had no choice.”

“Are you under arrest?” Abby asked, “Do you need a lawyer?”

“It’s an informal interview,” Lexa said, “but my lawyer should be on his way. Thanks for the concern though.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Anya dropped herself back down on the sofa after calling Lexa’s lawyer, she knew that the old guy would have a field day with Detective Cage and he had actually seemed mildly entertained when Anya had told him about the footage from the CCTV camera’s near the club. She looked over Raven’s shoulder at the girl’s laptop screen.

“Okay,” she said, “what are you doing?”

“I installed the cameras for Lexa,” Raven replied, glancing back at her, “I still have all the access codes to the camera system for the club. All the footage is backed up on the master drive, which the cops probably don’t know about. So if they’re screwing around with it, and using it for their own benefit to set Lexa up, we’ll know about it.”

“I thought you were a mechanic…” Anya said, looking at the girl.

“Oh honey,” Raven said with a smirk, “I’m full of surprises.”

“You’re going to have to tell me what those surprises are.” Anya said with a smirk of her own.

“Hey, you two, flirt later, help Lexa now.” Clarke said from where she was pacing around in the living room.

“Right,” Raven said looking back at the laptop, “let’s see… so she dropped Clarke off at work at around 10, right?”

“Right.” Clarke said with a nod.

“So let’s check the footage from a little after 10…” Raven said, clicking a few more buttons, “here we go…”

“If it’s okay with you, I don’t want to watch this.” Anya said, standing up and moving away from the sofa.

Raven didn’t want to watch it either, but as she did she could see that Lexa had been backed into the alleyway by Gustus, there was obviously some confrontation between the two, it was clear that Gustus had struck first, and Lexa had been defending herself. She fast-forwarded through the rest of the footage, not wanting to watch what happened, but clearly seeing that all the footage was perfectly clear, there was no question what had happened, there was also no question how Lexa had come to leave the alleyway.

“Shit…” Raven said.

“What?” Clarke asked looking at her.

“This footage is perfectly clear,” Raven replied, “it’s like watching a movie in 1080hd…”

“And the problem is?” the blonde asked.

“You can clearly see me and Bellamy helping Lexa from the alleyway…” Raven said with a sigh, “now me, I don’t mind that they can see that I was there… but Bell…”

“Could lose his job.” Clarke replied.

“Even if they can’t legally use the video, they will still know that Bellamy was there,” Anya said, “and they can still fire him for it…”

“Can you hack into the police system?” Clarke asked, looking at Raven.

“I wish,” Raven replied, “Monty might be able to…”

“They’ve had the footage for three days,” Anya said, “they have probably already seen the whole thing.”

“Call Monty…” Clarke said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Raven had her car parked across the road from the police building, Monty was sitting in the passenger seat with his very expensive all singing all dancing laptop on his knee, Clarke was in the back seat with Anya.

“Anything?” Clarke asked.

“I’ve only just got past their first firewall,” Monty replied, “have a little patience.”

Everyone remained quiet, the only sound within the car was the tapping of keys as Monty did his thing.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Abby had been checking Lexa’s wounds for a little longer than she should have been and Cage was starting to get a little impatient with the doctor.

“This is taking too long.” He said, slamming his fists down onto the table.

“Oh, and where did you get your medical degree from?” Abby asked, glancing back at him before turning her attention back to replacing the bandages over Lexa’s wound, her eyes flicking up to meet the brunette’s, who smiled a little.

“We can continue the questioning with the doctor here.” Lexa said as she smiled at Cage.

“Legally we can’t.” he replied, though Lexa knew that already.

A knock at the door caused everyone to look over. Cage walked over and opened it.

“We have a problem.” The police officer said, looking into the room, before he looked back at Cage.

“What kind of problem?” Cage asked.

“The footage from outside the club,” the officer said, “it’s gone.”

“What do you mean, it’s gone?” Cage asked, the volume of his voice rising with the redness in his face as he got steadily angrier.

“The system went down for a matter of seconds,” the officer said, “once we got it back the footage had gone.”

“Well get it back.” The Detective said.

“We can’t do that sir…” the officer said.

“I can get you the footage,” Lexa said, “but you’re going to need to get me a warrant.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Now all we need to do it mess up the 10 minutes or so that Bell and I were in the alleyway…” Raven said.

“Already on it my intelligent friend.” Monty said with a smile.

“This is why you’re my favourite.” Raven said, reaching over and kissing the boy on the side of the head.

“Why not just cut the footage?” Anya asked.

“Because then they will claim that it’s been tampered with, which won’t help Lexa’s case.” Monty said as he clicked away on his laptop, “This way they will still get a perfect view of what happened in the alleyway, but Bellamy and Raven will be left out of it.”

“Makes sense.” Anya said with a nod.

“So they’ll now have to get a warrant to get the footage, right?” Clarke asked.

“Indeed,” Monty replied, “and no judge is going to give them a warrant at this time of night, so they’ll have to wait until the morning.”

“Can they keep Lexa in till then?” the blonde asked, looking over at Anya.

“They could,” Anya replied, “if they arrest her, but Lexa’s lawyer should be here soon, and she doesn’t pay him $10,000 an hour for her to spend the night in jail.”

“$10,000 an hour?” Clarke asked.

“Might be a slight exaggeration,” Anya said with a shrug, “but I’m pretty sure that she’s paying for his kids college education…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“So, am I free to go?” Lexa asked as Abby finished up what she was doing.

“I should arrest you.” Cage said.

“On what grounds?” Lexa’s lawyer asked as he walked into the room, smiling a little at Lexa “Good evening Alexandria.”

“Hey Marcus.” Lexa said with a smile, “Marcus Kane meet Doctor Abby Griffin, Abby this is my lawyer Marcus.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Marcus said as he shook Abby’s hand.

“So…” Lexa said, leaning back in her chair again.

“It is my understanding that you have nothing solid to hold my client on,” Marcus said as he sat down next to Lexa, “you chief has just informed me that the video footage that you illegally obtained has suddenly disappeared.”

“We still have the mobile phone and the blood.” Cage countered.

“Blood that you should not have been able to legally link to my client without a blood test, which could not be obtained without a warrant, which you did not have.” Marcus said, “the mobile phone is circumstantial evidence at best, my client owns the nightclub that the phone was found outside of, that simply states that she dropped it there at some point.”

“Detective Blake and I witnessed your clients’ cousin admitting that your client attacked Gustus Trikru.” Cage said.

“Was she under arrest, or even under caution at that point?” Marcus asked, causing Lexa to smirk as she knew exactly where Marcus was going with what he was saying at that point, Cage didn’t reply, “I thought not. Which means, legally anything that Miss Trikru said, regarding my client and an attack that may or may not have taken place, is not legally admissible.”

“Anything else you would like to add, Detective Cage?” Lexa asked.

“Don’t leave town.” He said before turning and leaving the room.

“Sorry it took me so long to get here,” Marcus said to Lexa once Cage had left the room, “Traffic was a nightmare.”

“No problem, it was well worth the wait to see that little idiot squirm like a bitch.” Lexa said with a smile.

“Once a warrant is obtained they will be able to get the footage from outside the club.” Marcus said.

“I know,” Lexa said with a nod, “I also know that the footage will show that I acted in self-defence. He hit me first.”

“Won’t the footage also show…” Bellamy started to say.

“I’m sure we can work around that…” Lexa said, stopping him before he said to much, “The footage of the attack will be the only thing that they will be able to get a warrant for, right, like that specific time frame?”

“It will depend on how the warrant is worded,” Marcus said, “if they request the footage from that entire 24-hour period, then no…”

“Lexa,” Bellamy said, “I don’t want to lose my job…”

“Why would you lose your job?” Marcus asked.

“Bellamy is the one who brought Lexa into my clinic.” Abby replied from where she was standing.

“A concerned citizen passing by, nothing more.” Marcus said.

“Except that my phone records will show that Bellamy called me a few minutes before he arrived at the alleyway…” Lexa said, lying her head down on the table.

“Are we forgetting that the footage just mysteriously vanished from the computer system?” Abby asked.

“Do you have any contacts who could have done that?” Marcus asked Lexa, whose head was still on the table.

“No…” she mumbled, “unless… Raven.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Bellamy and Lexa arrived back at Lexa’s apartment they were met by a pretty serious game of Mario Kart in her living room.

“Glad to see that none of you were too worried.” Lexa said as she watched Raven and a guy she recognised from somewhere competitively racing each other.

“I was worried…” Clarke replied, walking over to the girl and kissing her.

“At least someone was.” Lexa said with a small smile as Clarke kept her arms around her waist, “Aren’t you going to introduce me…?”

“Lexa, this is Monty, a friend of mine, Raven’s and Bellamy’s.” Clarke said.

“Monty Green,” Monty said putting the controller down and bowing a little to Lexa, “computer genius extraordinaire, at your service.”

“You deleted the footage…” Lexa said with a small smile as she looked at him.

“What footage?” Monty asked with a smirk, “I admit to nothing, though I will say that when they do finally get the warrant, from the minute you hit the floor to the minute Bellamy and Raven get you in the car, it’s going to look like the city had a pretty bad freak snow storm.”

“You may have just saved Bellamy’s job.” Lexa said with an impressed nod, “and I may need your skills on retainer at some point.”

“Are you going to hire all my friends?” Clarke asked.

“Maybe,” Lexa said with a nod, “though I do think your mom may have agreed to a date with my lawyer earlier.”

“The lawyer that you pay $10,000 an hour?” Clarke asked.

“Well at least you know it won’t be a cheap date.” Lexa said with a shrug, “I’m tired…”

“Then let’s get you to bed.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“I can get myself to bed, you hang out with your friends.” Lexa replied with a smile of her own, kissing Clarke on the head.

“Sure?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah.” Lexa said with a nod.

Lexa walked to her room, turning on the light she stopped in her tracks.

“Clarke!” she called, “why is your cat asleep on my bed?”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler chapter, which I'm not too sure of, still I hope you all enjoy it. Drop me a comment and let me know.

 

Lexa hated funerals, she was sure nobody actually liked them, but they were her least favourite part of her life. She had been to so many in the previous few years that they stopped holding any real meaning to her. Funerals are a time for people to say their goodbyes to the people they’ve lost, Lexa was one of those people who believed she didn’t need to watch a box go into the ground to say goodbye. Going to Gustus’s funeral was actually making her feel like a bit of a hypocrite, after all she was the one who had ended his life, but Indra, Anya and Lincoln all said they wanted her to be there, so she really had no choice.

They were all getting ready to go at the house, it was weird for Lexa to walk around the place now, in the previous few days Indra had all of Gustus’s things boxed up so the house was looking less and less lived in every day. Anything that was family related would go up into the loft until Lexa wanted it, Indra, Anya and Lincoln deciding after a little bit of a refurbishment on the house they still wanted to live there. Lexa didn’t really blame them; it was a beautiful house. Personally, she had a lot of memories which had been made in that house, most of them happy ones.

She was sitting at the bottom of the stairs waiting for everyone else to finish getting ready, the cars were picking them all up from the house, anyone who was in the gang who wanted to go was welcome to, no matter which side of the fight between Lexa and Gustus they ended up on. She knew it would be a tense day, but there was an unwritten rule at these types of funerals, all bad blood and disagreements were put on hold for the day, out of respect for the person who had died. Lexa wasn’t sure how much respect she had left for Gustus, not after finding out what she had from Detective Cage when she had been at the police station. She needed to find out just how much of it had been true, she needed to know, for her own peace of mind, if Gustus had been the one to put the hit out on her parents.

The night before the funeral she had tried to talk to Indra about it, but her aunt had told her that she knew nothing about it, and Lexa had no reason not to believe her. The older woman had never lied to Lexa in the past and she was one of the few people who Lexa trusted completely. That night she had also given Lexa a deep red shirt. Lexa knew what it meant. When there was a ‘family’ funeral the head of the family always wore a red shirt. She had seen Gustus wear one many times, and sometimes at these types of funerals other people had also worn deep coloured shirts, it had taken her a while to realise what that meant but it had been explained to her that those people were the heads of their families. She wasn’t sure exactly who was going to be at Gustus’s funeral, Indra had dealt with all of that, but she had a feeling that she was going to have to play nice with people she didn’t really like. Which wasn’t really difficult for her.

Tris came running down the stairs, Luna following on behind.

“But I don’t want to wear it.” Tris said, standing at the bottom of the stairs, her hands on her hips as she looked back at her mother.

“You only have to wear it for a couple of hours, then when we all come back here you can get changed.” Luna replied.

“But it’s a dress, I don’t like wearing dresses.” Tris said with a pout before looking at Lexa, “Lexa isn’t wearing a dress.”

“I don’t think Lexa even owns a dress.” Luna said with a small laugh as she walked down the stairs.

“The last time I wore a dress I was about 8 years old,” Lexa said with a smile, “Indra can tell you how well that worked out.”

“How well what worked out?” Indra asked as she walked out of the side office carrying some more files.

“Me in a dress.” Lexa replied.

“It took me 3 hours to get her into the thing,” Indra said, looking at Lexa with a certain fondness in her eyes, “it took her 20 minutes of climbing the tree outside for me to realise that it wasn’t going to happen.”

Lexa could see something change in Tris’s eyes.

“Don’t even think about it squirt,” she said as she stood up, “there will be no tree climbing today.”

“You have to wear the dress,” Luna said to Tris, “I didn’t bring anything else with us and you’re not wearing jeans.”

“Why not?” Tris asked.

“Because it’s disrespectful.” Luna replied.

“Uncle Gustus bought me a suit once.” Tris said, causing Luna and Lexa to look at Indra, who nodded a little, “can I wear that?”

“Sure.” Luna replied with a sigh.

“I’ll help the little one get ready.” Indra said, taking Tris’s hand and leading the young girl upstairs.

“What have you done to my daughter…” Luna said, a hint of amusement in her voice as she sat down on the stairs next to Lexa, “first she tells me she likes girls, after talking to you about it, and now this.”

 “I guess she just felt a little more comfortable talking to me about the whole liking girls thing, I mean she’s seen me with Clarke, she doesn’t know anything about the relationships you’ve had,” Lexa replied with a shrug, “as for this whole suit thing… she’s at that age where we all stopped wearing dresses. It’s starting to become this weird tradition in this family…”

“Anya still wears dresses.” Luna said.

“Anya always was a little bit odd.” Lexa said with a laugh.

“I’m glad Tris has you to talk to you know,” Luna said, “I don’t think I ever thanked you for being there for her when I couldn’t be…”

“We’re family, Luna,” Lexa said, looking at the older woman, “you don’t need to thank me for that.”

“Yeah, well, I want to,” Luna said, nudging Lexa’s arm slightly, “it’s actually good for my peace of mind to know that she has you.”

“She’ll always have me.” Lexa said with a small smile.

A knock at the door caught both of their attention, Nyko opened it to reveal Clarke and Raven. Lexa stood up as the blonde and the mechanic walked into the house.

“Hey…” Lexa said with a small smile as she reached the blonde, putting her hands on her waist.

“Hey.” Clarke replied, closing the distance between their lips.

“Thanks for coming.” Lexa said once she backed out of the kiss a little.

“Well Tris asked me,” Clarke said with a small smile, “couldn’t say no.”

“Of course not.” Lexa replied with a little laugh.

“You doing okay?” the blonde asked.

“I don’t know,” Lexa said with a shrug, “I mean, should I even be here…”

“Of course you should be here,” Luna said from where she was sitting, “however it ended between you, you were family.”

“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me…” Lexa said, glancing back at the older woman.

“No,” Raven said, “we’d be at your funeral instead.”

“We need to put on a united front with this,” Luna said as she stood up, “you know how these things work, Lexa. If you weren’t there it would send out the wrong message to other groups in the area. You need to do this.”

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a sigh.

Tris came running back down the stairs.

“Hey Clarke.” She said with a smile.

“Wow,” Clarke said, stepping away from Lexa a little, “look at you.”

“You like it?” Tris asked, doing a little turn in her suit.

“I think you look great.” Clarke said with a nod.

“Uncle Gustus bought me it.” Tris replied.

“He bought me my first suit too…” Lexa said, a hint of sadness to her voice, “excuse me…”

She walked away from the small group and over to the side office, she needed a little time to get her head around what was happening. She hadn’t really come to terms with what she had done, what she had been forced to do. If things had gone the way Lexa had hoped they would, none of them would be here, Gustus would have left the city and this wouldn’t have happened.

While she was standing and looking out of the window the door to the office opened. She had been expecting Clarke to follow her, but it wasn’t Clarke, it was Indra.

“This isn’t your fault, Lexa.” Indra said as she closed the door behind her.

“I’m not sure how you worked that one out,” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, “this whole thing is my fault… I’m the one who decided that challenging him was a good idea, I’m the one who split this family up, I’m the one who killed him.”

“You’re also the one who gave him the chance to walk away,” Indra said as she walked up to where Lexa was standing, “he knew what he was doing. He lost the respect of a lot of people over the last few years, he knew that. Not standing up to the Azgeda when he had the chance lost him a lot of respect. He didn’t know how to get that back. But he did know that it would end this way.”

“He should have just walked away…” Lexa said quietly, “I didn’t want to kill him…”

“You did what you had to do,” Indra replied, “you did what he… what _we_ raised you to do. You didn’t do this for yourself, Lexa, we all know that. You did what you had to do for your people, for your family.”

“I’ve seen so many people that I care about die over the years,” Lexa said, “I couldn’t let that be for nothing. Too much blood has been spilt in this city for that to mean nothing.”

“He knew if it came down to it, if it became a you or him thing, he wouldn’t win.” Indra said, “I think he was actually waiting for you to realise that.”

“So he knew that I would kill him?” Lexa asked as she looked at her aunt.

“I think he knew if it came down to it, you would always choose those people outside over him,” Indra replied with a sigh, “he put the people you care about in danger. Attacking Ryder was his first step.”

“No,” Lexa said shaking her head a little, “threatening Clarke was his first step…”

A knock at the door stopped the conversation. The door opened and Anya walked in.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Anya said, looking between Lexa and Indra, “but there’s someone here to see you.”

“Me?” Lexa asked, causing Anya to nod a little.

The three of them walked from the office and back out into the small lobby area. Lexa stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who it was.

“Costia?” Lexa said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“What are you doing here?” Lexa asked as she stood in the kitchen, Costia was sitting at the table.

“Firstly, I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.” Costia replied.

“I wouldn’t really say it was a loss,” Lexa said with a sigh, “I’m the one who killed him. You didn’t come back here to say that, what do you want?”

“Fair enough,” Costia said with a small nod, “I know that you’re aware of how corrupt the police force is in this city, most of them were in your uncle’s pocket after all. My father has been given the job of investigating just how deep that corruption runs.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Lexa asked.

“Two reasons, really,” Costia replied, “the first reason, I think you know why. The second reason… when I graduated college I decided to join the police force, follow in my father’s footsteps so to speak… I just got transferred here, as part of the investigation. They want me to go undercover in the Gangs and Violent Crime division.”

“Let me get this straight,” Lexa said as she narrowed her eyes a little, “you’re in the city to work undercover, in a division of the police force which was set up to literally deal with… people like me, and you’re here telling me all of this? Isn’t that a little counter-productive?”

“Technically, my job doesn’t start until Monday,” Costia said, “so right now I’m here as a friend.”

“We stopped being friends the day you ran away because you couldn’t deal with who I am,” Lexa replied coldly, “I get shot and the one person I expected to be there when I woke up in hospital was the one person who couldn’t leave the city fast enough.”

“That’s not fair.” Costia said, standing up.

“Isn’t it?” Lexa asked, “because that’s the way I remember it happening. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you, you knew who I was, you knew what could happen. Yet at the first sign of shit actually getting real, you run.”

“Look,” Costia said, “I didn’t come here to argue about this, I messed up, okay, I know that. I’ve spent the last 7 years dealing with that, I missed you, Lexa…”

“You don’t get to do this,” Lexa said, shaking her head, “not now…”

“What we had…” Costia started to say.

“Ended the moment you left me in hospital, alone,” Lexa said, interrupting her, “you have no idea just how much you screwed up my head. You do not get to come back here and tell me that you’re sorry and that you missed me. You left me. I’ve moved on, it took me a while, but I have.”

“The blonde in the lobby…” Costia said.

“Her name is Clarke.” Lexa replied.

“Okay,” Costia said with a nod, “just… be careful, okay. This investigation is going to drag up a lot that you probably don’t want to know, you need to let whoever is taking over from Gustus know…”

“You’re looking at the person who is taking over from Gustus.” Lexa said, folding her arms across her chest.

“You?” Costia asked.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod, “seems someone breaking your heart and fucking up your head can bring out a really nasty streak within someone.”

Costia nodded a little.

“Who are they pairing you with in the division?” Lexa asked.

“Bellamy Blake.” Costia replied, “his records show that he is the least likely to stand in the way of a corruption investigation.”

“Bellamy likes to think he can save the world.” Lexa said with a small smile, “he’s a good guy. Your investigation might bring up a few things…”

“A few things?” Costia asked.

“He saved my life,” Lexa replied, “twice.”

“And I’m guessing that neither of those are on record…” Costia said with a sigh.

“Neither of those need to be on record,” Lexa said, “he’s a good cop.”

The kitchen door opened and Clarke put her head around the door.

“The cars are here.” She said as she looked at Lexa.

“Thanks.” Lexa replied with a small smile, “I’ll be right there.”

Clarke nodded a little, glancing over at Costia before she closed the door again.

“She doesn’t like me.” Costia said with a smile.

“She doesn’t know you,” Lexa replied, “she knows that you and I were together, she knows how much you meant to me back then. Let me make one thing clear, you’re here to make my life difficult, you get in my way…”

“I’m here to bring down corrupt police officers,” Costia said, “your name wasn’t even on the list of gang members that we needed to watch.”

“I’d appreciate it if it stayed that way.” Lexa said.

“I can’t make any promises.” Costia replied.

“You never could…” Lexa said quietly.

“Just so you know, the cemetery will be crawling with cops.” Costia said as they both walked towards the kitchen door.

“I expected nothing less.” Lexa replied.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As the funeral ended Lexa was making her way back to the car, she had Clarke walking one side of her and Tris the other. As they got closer to the car she could see Nia waiting. The older woman stepped towards them as they approached the car.

“Take Tris and get in the car.” Lexa said to Clarke, “I won’t be long.”

“Okay.” Clarke said with a small nod as she took Tris’s hand and they walked past Nia to the car.

“I have to say,” Nia said as she watched Clarke and Tris get into the car, “that was a beautiful service.”

“If you say so,” Lexa replied, “what can I help you with, Nia?”

“Always so polite.” Nia said with a small smile as she looked back at Lexa, “I’ve got to say the young doctor is very cute.”

“My politeness has limits.” Lexa said.

“It’s not so much what you can do for me, Lexa,” Nia said, “it’s more what we can do for each other.”

“I’m listening.” Lexa replied, folding her arms across her chest.

“Gustus and I had an agreement, one I hope that you and I can still honour.” The older woman said, “the agreement was that all violence within the neutral zone would stop, and the Azgeda could expand the territory that we have. Bringing it out to just past the Griffin clinic.”

“Not going to happen.” Lexa said, her face void of all emotion.

“You have to realise that you were losing more people than we were,” Nia said, a small smirk playing on her lips, “allowing us to expand…”

“Is not going to happen,” Lexa repeated, “we were losing more people than you because Gustus allowed that to happen. The lines of the neutral zone will remain where they are, there is no way that I am going to agree to you expanding, at all. If you brought your lines forward that much it would mean that both Luna’s bar and the clinic were within your territory. I would never allow that to happen.”

“I am trying to make this easy for you, Lexa.” Nia said.

“No,” Lexa replied, stepping towards her a little, “you’re trying to make this easier for yourself. I don’t care what kind of agreement you may or may not have had with Gustus, as of this moment it doesn’t count for shit. You attempt to take over that part of the city and I promise you it will end badly for you.”

“Maybe you don’t understand how this works…” Nia said.

“I’m aware of how this works,” Lexa said, “You may have been used to having agreements with Gustus, but we both know he was getting soft. That isn’t who I am.”

“Lexa…” Nia started to say.

“Any ideas I may have had about us being able to work together, for the sake of both of our people, stopped when I found out that you were involved in my parent’s death,” Lexa said interrupting her, “I had considered some kind of deal with you, but now I know that it would be more for your benefit than mine.”

“Whoever told you that was lying.” Nia replied.

“So you’re saying that Gustus didn’t call you to place a hit on my parents?” Lexa asked, “you’re saying the witnesses in the room at the time were lying?”

“I…” Nia started to say, “it was…”

“That’s what I thought,” Lexa said with a smirk as she felt Indra and Anya walk up to her, “and you can tell your little police detective friend that he still isn’t going to get to lock me up.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Nia replied.

“So you’re not wearing a wire for Detective Cage?” Lexa asked, causing Nia’s face to drop, “thought as much. Have a nice day, Nia.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Everyone was meeting back up at the house, all those who had been at the funeral were welcome, Lexa was sitting in one of the smaller rooms thinking about what Nia had said to her when Marcus Kane walked into the room.

“Alexandria” he said with a small smile.

“Glad you could make it.” Lexa replied with a small smile of her own as she stood up to shake the man’s hand.

“Anya told me that Costia was here earlier.” He said as they both sat back down.

“Her father is heading an investigation into police corruption here,” Lexa said with a nod, “she was transferred here to work undercover.”

“Any particular reason she thought it would be a good idea to tell you that?” Marcus asked in reply.

“I don’t think she knew I was taking over from Gustus when she came here,” Lexa said, “But she certainly knows now. They’re pairing her with Bellamy.”

“It would make more sense for them to have put her with Cage,” Marcus replied, “it’s my understanding that he is pretty deeply involved with any corruption here.”

“He’s also in Nia’s pocket.” Lexa said with a sigh.

“I managed to get my hands on some files that you may find of interest.” Marcus said as he opened the briefcase he was carrying, “it may shed some more light on Gustus’s involvement in your parent’s death…”

Lexa looked at the files in her hand.

“These are the sealed police files…” she said, looking from the files back to Marcus.

“They show who was driving the car the night of your parent’s death.” He said.

Lexa put the files on the table.

“You tell me.” She said.

“Roan.” Marcus replied.

“So not only was Nia involved in the hit, it was her own son who was driving the car?” Lexa asked.

“It was apparently the only way they could ensure that it was done,” he said, “as I’m sure you’re aware, drive-by shootings are not exactly an Azgeda strong point.”

“If they could prove that he was driving the car, why wasn’t he arrested?” Lexa asked, sitting forward in the chair a little.

“The evidence disappeared.” Marcus explained, “the Detective who was working on the case at the time had strong links to Cage’s father…”

“Who was the commissioner at the time.” Lexa said with a nod, “Is there any link between Cage’s father and Nia?”

“I don’t know…” Marcus replied honestly.

“Can you do something for me?” Lexa asked, to which Marcus nodded, “can you see that these files find their way to Costia? I can’t give them to her, but if they came from you…”

“I will see that she gets them.” Marcus said with a nod, before putting the files back in his briefcase, “Something else I wanted to discuss with you, the warrant for the security footage came this morning.”

“How much are they asking for?” Lexa asked, sitting back in the chair.

“The whole 24 hour period,” Marcus replied, “which is what we expected. I have until 6pm this evening to give it to them.”

“Do it,” Lexa said with a nod, “anything else?”

“My relationship with Abby…” he started to say.

“Is so not my business,” Lexa replied with a groan, “whatever you choose to get up to is your business, I don’t need to hear about it.”

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa talks to Roan, Nia gets a shock and Lexa bonds with the cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay with this update, writers block is a bitch. This update is nearly 6k words to make up for the wait. Please drop me a comment if you have a spare few minutes once you've read it. I think there's only a couple more parts left of this story. Enjoy.

 

Lexa was heading back to her apartment after a long night, she’d been at the warehouse discussing what to do about Nia with some of the other gang members. They’d only realised what time it was when Anya’s phone rang and it was Raven checking to make sure everyone was still alive. Lincoln had said he would drop Anya back at Lexa’s on his way to Octavia’s place, well it was Bellamy’s place which Lexa was sure would cause all kinds of issues, what with Bellamy being partnered with Costia, but there just wasn’t enough space at Lexa’s for everyone. She knew that was something that she was going to have to look into at some point soon, but she could barely find time to breathe right now. Part of the reason that Lincoln had said he’d drop Anya home was because Lexa had travelled on her bike, she was dropping Clarke at work and she knew that Abby hated the idea of her daughter on a ‘death trap’, which Lexa obviously found very amusing.

It was 2am when Lexa found herself riding her bike past the clinic, she recognised a couple of cars that were sitting outside, even if she hadn’t recognised the cars the cracked ice detail on the hood would have been enough to make her stop. She parked her bike up and took off her helmet before she walked into the clinic. Looking around she saw a few Azgeda members standing around, she couldn’t understand why they were there, nothing had happened between the two gangs that night that she was aware of. Someone would have let her know if something had gone down.

As her eyes slowly travelled around the clinic, the Azgeda members all stopping what they were doing and looking at her, Lexa’s gaze finally fell on Clarke. She was talking to Roan. He had a small smile on his face as they talked, something which immediately set Lexa on edge. They were standing near the reception desk. Lexa walked over to the desk and put her helmet down a little loudly, albeit intentionally. Roan looked over at her before looking back at Clarke.

“Well be sure to let your mom know I stopped by,” he said with a smile, “it could be a very lucrative agreement for her.”

“I’ll let her know,” Clarke replied, “but I have a feeling that I’ve already told you what her answer will be.”

Clarke watched as Roan walked closer to where Lexa was standing, the brunette clenching her jaw a little as he neared. Clarke made her way over to Lexa before Roan got there. She put one arm around Lexa’s waist to keep her in place.

“Not here…” Clarke said quietly, feeling rather than seeing Lexa take a deep breath and release it slowly.

“Lexa,” Roan said as he stopped walking, “I was hoping to bump into you. I have something to talk to you about, which I think you might find interesting.”

“You going to tell me how you killed my parents?” Lexa asked, Clarke’s grip on her waist tightening a little.

Roan’s face visibly paled at Lexa’s words, he obviously hadn’t expected her to know about that.

“I had no idea they were your parents until afterwards,” he said, “she gave me the details of the job and I did it. There were no names.”

“Bullshit.” Lexa said.

“Believe what you want to believe, Lexa,” he said calmly, “but I would never intentionally leave a young child without their parents. There are some lines that even I won’t knowingly cross.”

Lexa was pretty good at reading people, hearing the lies they were telling no matter how good they were at covering it up, but at that moment she was hearing nothing but sincerity from Roan.

“Like I said,” he continued, “there is something I want to talk to you about. I can see now is not the best time. Dr Griffin has my number when you’re ready. It’ll be well worth your time.”

He motioned to the Azgeda members that they were leaving. Lexa didn’t relax until the last of them had left the clinic.

“What did he want?” Lexa asked as Clarke finally took a step back away from her.

“He was looking for my mom,” Clarke replied, “something about wanting to make a substantial donation to the clinic because of the work my mom has done over the years.”

“Nia wants to expand,” Lexa said, “she wants to move the boundaries of her territory to include both this place and Luna’s. Apparently she had some kind of agreement with Gustus.”

“I’m guessing that’s what she wanted to talk to you about at the funeral.” The blonde said with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod, “I told her it wasn’t going to happen though. That would put both you and O at risk, along with your mom and everyone else who works here. I won’t let that happen, Clarke.”

“I know.” Clarke said with a soft smile and a nod, “what brings you out here at 2am?”

“We just finished up a meeting, and for some reason I thought this was the best way to get home.” Lexa said.

“When it would have been quicker for you to just take the first left off Main…” Clarke said with a smirk.

“Quicker is not always better.” Lexa replied, putting her hands on Clarke’s waist and pulling the blonde closer to her, “I thought you’d figured that out by now.”

“I’m guessing Raven and Anya are going to be at yours as well huh.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“That too.” Lexa said with a nod.

“Dr Griffin,” Harper said, “sorry to interrupt, but the guy in 2 has just woken up and is wanting to go home.”

“Drunks.” Clarke said with a roll of her eyes, “always spoil the fun.”

“I’ll let you get back to work,” Lexa said with a small laugh before placing a soft kiss on Clarke’s lips, “I’ll see you at home later?”

“Hopefully you’ll be asleep when I get home.” The blonde replied.

“Depends if Anya and Raven are going at it like rabbits again,” Lexa said, “are you sure you’re really set on Raven staying alive?”

“Goodnight Lexa.” Clarke said, with a laugh as she walked towards room 2.

Lexa walked out of the clinic and saw that one of the Azgeda cars was still there. Roan was standing near her bike.

“You’ve got yourself a good one there.” He said.

“What do you want?” Lexa asked.

“To talk.” He replied, “nothing more.”

“What makes you think that you have anything to say that I want to hear?” the brunette asked, walking closer to him.

“Your ex-girlfriend, what’s her name…” Roan said, his brow furrowed as he thought about it, “Costia, that’s right isn’t it…”

Lexa didn’t say anything, she just arched her eyebrow a little, telling him to continue.

“She’s digging around in a lot of things that she shouldn’t,” Roan continued, “my mother isn’t too happy about it.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Lexa said with a shrug as she moved to walk around him to her bike.

“She’s going to get herself hurt, Lexa.” Roan said as he gripped her arm as she walked past him.

“Move your arm or I’ll take it off for you.” Lexa said as she looked at him.

Roan let go of Lexa’s arm and stepped back a little, raising his hands.

“I’m not here to fight, Lexa.” He said.

“So you’re here to what, tell me that your mom is planning something to do with Costia?” Lexa said, putting her bike helmet on the seat of her bike, freeing up both her hands in case she needed them.

“I’m here to make you an offer.” He said with a smile.

“You have nothing I want, Roan.” Lexa replied, folding her arms across her chest.

“I think I do,” he said, “we both want the same things here.”

“And what is it that we both want?” she asked.

“My mother gone,” Roan replied, “an end to the needless fighting. This city is big enough for both of us.”

“You want to take over…” Lexa said, causing Roan to nod a little, “can’t help you there.”

“Come on, Lexa,” he said, “you know that I don’t have the numbers behind me to do what you did. With your help we can both get what we want. With my mother out of the way, I am next in line to take over.”

“If you don’t have the numbers behind you to do this the way it should be done, what makes you think that you’ll be able to take control with your mother gone?” Lexa asked, “What’s to say that, if I help you, someone else won’t challenge your position and continue what your mother is doing?”

“That isn’t the way Azgeda works.” Roan replied, “it’s a hereditary hierarchy. Always has been.”

“I don’t know…” Lexa said with a sigh, “this goes wrong, I have too much to lose.”

“You also have a lot to gain if it goes right,” Roan said, “think about it, it makes good business sense. You get to keep what you’re doing; I get to do what I want to do. We both stand to gain a lot more than you stand to lose. Use your head, Lexa. Use your head.”

Lexa glanced back at the clinic before she looked back at Roan.

“Think about it.” he said, “I’ll be in touch.”

She stood and watched as he got back in the car and drove away. She knew that he was right, it was something that made sense. If it would stop the fighting then it would make everything a lot easier for everyone. But she also knew that she had a lot more to lose than he did. If a plan they came up with to get Nia out of the picture failed, Roan stood to lose nothing, everything would continue on as normal for him until he tried again. For her there was more at stake.

She got her phone out of her pocket and called Luna.

“Hey, Lexa.” Luna said, “what are you still doing awake.”

“Long meeting,” Lexa replied, “are you busy?”

“No,” Luna said, “just closed up the bar, why?”

“I need to talk to you.” Lexa said, “it’s important.”

“Come on over then.” Luna said.

“See you soon.” Lexa replied before hanging up the phone and getting on her bike.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Drink?” Luna asked, looking at Lexa as she lifted up the bottle of whiskey.

“Any chance of a coffee?” Lexa asked, “I don’t want to be drinking and riding my bike, I’ll probably end up wrapping it around a tree or something.”

Luna laughed a little as she filled up the kettle before turning back to Lexa.

“So what it is you wanted to talk to me about?” the older woman asked.

“Roan and Nia,” Lexa replied, getting straight to the point, “what’s going on there?”

“I don’t know,” Luna said, shaking her head a little, “not exactly. There’s been some talk in the bar about them having a few issues, why do you ask?”

“I stopped by the clinic earlier to see Clarke before I went home…” Lexa started to say.

“You are so whipped.” Luna said with a small laugh.

“Anyway,” Lexa said, fighting to keep the smile off her face, “Roan was there. He was looking for Abby. Told me he wanted to talk to me about something. As I was leaving he was waiting by my bike, he wants me to help him get rid of Nia… said that this city is big enough for the both of us, talked about how it would stop the fighting…”

“But you’re not sure about it.” Luna said.

“I have more to lose than he does,” Lexa replied, “I mean, what if this whole thing is a set-up. What if Nia is planning the whole thing. She gets me out of the way, who would take over?”

“Anya, probably.” Luna said with a shrug, “Lincoln could do it, but we both know he is more of a lover than a fighter.”

“And you think Anya could handle it?” Lexa asked.

“Honestly, no.” Luna replied, “she’s too impulsive. She let’s her anger lead her and if Nia killed you, Anya would just take everyone into Azgeda territory and let the chips fall where they may. But what if it’s not a set-up? Think about it, Lex. This could be exactly what you want. We both know that you’d rather not have to get up each morning and think about what fights took place while you were asleep, who might be in hospital or worse…”

“Yeah…” Lexa said as Luna made her a coffee.

“It would take the heat off from the cops too.” Luna said, putting the cup down in front of Lexa.

“If you were me, what would you do?” Lexa asked.

“Talk to Roan,” Luna replied, “set up a meeting. You’re good at reading people, use that. If you think he’s playing you, walk away. If not, work with him. This city would be a safer place for everyone if Nia wasn’t heading the Azgeda.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The following day Lexa was sitting in the park, she had got Roan’s number from Clarke when the blonde got back from work and they had set up a meeting. The park seemed like the safest place. Nyko and Tristan were sitting on the next bench over from Lexa, she and Roan may have agreed to meet alone, but she wasn’t stupid. She had left Clarke sleeping and told Anya that, if the blonde woke up before she got home, she could tell her where Lexa had gone. While she was waiting, she’d arrived early, she was looking around. Trying to see if anything stood out as being out of the ordinary. It was a park she went to a lot with Tris so she figured she’d be able to tell if something wasn’t right.

“I see you already don’t trust me.” Roan said as he reached the bench.

“Covering all my bases.” Lexa replied not looking at him as he sat down.

“At least I left my backup in the car.” He said, Lexa could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Shame if you need them, you’ll be dead before they get here.” Lexa replied, glancing over at him.

“I didn’t come here to fight.” He said with a sigh, “I take it you’ve given my request some thought?”

“I weighed it up,” she said with a nod, “if you’re being totally upfront with me, and this isn’t some kind of set-up for your mother, then the gains outweigh the loses…”

“Have you talked to Dr Griffin about this?” he asked.

“Don’t,” she said, looking at him, “she stays out of this.”

“Okay.” He replied with a nod.

“So you want her gone,” Lexa said, “any idea how you want it done? I can’t exactly just rock up in Azgeda territory and kill her, I’d never make it out alive.”

“You’d do it yourself?” Roan asked.

“I would never ask my people to do something that I wouldn’t do myself.” Lexa replied, “So yeah, I’d do it myself.”

“She’s out of the city on business right now,” Roan said, “she actually gets back tomorrow morning. As they’re travelling up from the south, her car will pass through your territory.”

“Drive-by’s aren’t really my style, Roan,” Lexa said, “that’s more your thing.”

“Her driver is a close friend of mine,” Roan continued, ignoring what Lexa had said, “I can get him to say the car has broken down, or there’s a puncture or something. Anything that will mean he has to stop the car… I do have one request though.”

“What?” Lexa asked.

“Don’t kill the driver.” Roan replied.

“Is he likely to get in my way?” the brunette asked, Roan shook his head, “then he should be okay. What time is she getting back?”

“He’s picking her up from the airport at 4am,” Roan replied, “which would put her in your territory at around 5.”

“There’s an abandoned warehouse down by the Reyes garage,” Lexa said, as she stood up, though she obviously knew the warehouse wasn’t abandoned, it was the place Luna had given her, “have your friend fake a breakdown or puncture or whatever you decide there, at 5 or as close to 5 as you can. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“You’re not going to regret this, Lexa.” Roan said.

“I really hope for your sake that I don’t.” Lexa said, walking away from the bench and towards the bench Nyko and Tristan were sitting at.

As she passed the bench they stood and walked behind her.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke came out of the bedroom to find Lexa, Anya, Nyko, Tristan and Lincoln all sitting around the small table in the living room.

“Did we wake you?” Lexa asked as she looked over at the blonde.

“No…” Clarke replied with a small smile as she walked over to the table.

She could see a map of the city. On the map she saw that the warehouse next to Raven’s garage was clearly marked.

“What’s going on?” Clarke asked.

“I talked to Roan,” Lexa replied, “I agreed to help him with his mommy issues.”

Nyko and Tristan laughed a little.

“You’re going to kill Nia?” Clarke asked, her eyes were pretty cold as she looked at Lexa.

“That’s the plan, yeah.” Lexa said with a nod, before turning her attention back to the map, “so, Lincoln, you’ll be here…”

She marked another area on the map, it was an alleyway that ran down the side of the warehouse.

“Stay out of sight though,” Lexa continued, “if Nia sees you, all bets are off. Anya, you’ll be across the street in this building here, that bottom apartment that faces the garage is empty, Raven has already said she’ll be able to get you in.”

Anya nodded a little.

“Tristan,” Lexa said looking at him, “Raven has said she’ll leave a car parked outside the garage, you’ll be in the back seat. Keep your head down, again, if Nia sees you this will not work.”

“What about me?” Nyko asked.

“You’ll be with me.” Lexa replied.

Anya looked at Clarke before she looked at Lexa, she arched her eyebrow a little tilting her head slightly towards Clarke as she fixed her eyes on the map. Lexa looked at the blonde.

“I have to do this, Clarke,” she said, “with Nia gone…”

“And if it’s a set-up?” Clarke asked, “then what?”

“That’s why I’m not going on my own,” Lexa replied, “if anything seems like it’s not right, then we’ll deal with it.”

“You’re going to get yourself arrested, or killed,” Clarke said, “there has to be another way.”

“The only other way is for me to go into Azgeda territory alone, and take her out.” Lexa said with a sigh, “I will never make it out alive. This is on our land, on our terms, this is the best shot we have.”

Clarke didn’t say anything, she just looked at the map before looking around at the small group, all of them other than Lexa were avoiding her eyes.

“Clarke,” Lexa said, moving to stand up, “you have to trust me.”

“I’m going to take a shower.” The blonde said, walking towards the bathroom as Lexa stood up from the sofa.

“Well that went well…” Anya said sarcastically as Clarke closed the bathroom door behind her.

“This is the only chance we have,” Lincoln said to Lexa as she stood looking at the bathroom door, “she’s travelling through our territory so early because she thinks we’ll all be asleep. We’re not going to get this chance again.”

“I know…” Lexa said with a sigh, as she shook her head a little before sitting back down, “let’s run over this again…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Clarke finished in the bathroom she walked back out to the living room to find Octavia and Raven sitting on the sofa.

“Where’s everyone?” Clarke asked.

“Lexa is meeting Bellamy,” Octavia replied, “Anya and Lincoln are at the warehouse, Nyko went home and Tristan is at the gym.”

“Why is she meeting Bell?” the blonde asked.

“She’s covering all her bases Princess.” Raven said, “you know she has to do this.”

“I can’t believe that you think this is a good idea.” Clarke said as she ran her hand through her hair, “you were here the night the cops showed up, you know how much trouble it was to get everything sorted after that. The police are still investigating Gustus’s death, which they know Lexa committed. She’s not going to get away with saying this is self-defence.”

“Firstly,” Raven said looking at Clarke, “there are no security camera’s in that entire part of the city, that whole street is a black zone. Lexa knows this. Secondly, think about how much things are going to change after this.”

“If she survives this.” Clarke said shaking her head, “I need some air.”

Raven and Octavia sat and watched as Clarke left the apartment.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Bellamy walked into the diner and saw Lexa sitting in one of the booths. He had been surprised to get her call, but obviously there was no way he could not meet her. He walked over to the booth and slid in opposite her.

“Thanks for coming.” She said, smiling a little.

“You said it was important.” He replied as the waitress came over to take their order, “just a coffee for me.”

“Same, please.” Lexa said with a smile as she looked at the waitress.

They both sat in silence as the waitress walked away again.

“What’s going on, Lexa?” Bellamy asked.

“There’s something happening later,” she said, “I can’t go into details, but I have no idea how it’s going to work out. There’s a few things you need to know… firstly, your new partner isn’t who you think she is…”

“How do you know Costia?” he asked.

“We dated in High School,” Lexa replied, smiling a little as Bellamy’s mouth opened a little like he was going to say something, before he closed it again, “you’re barking up the wrong tree there, Blake, trust me. She doesn’t drive stick.”

Bellamy laughed as the waitress brought their coffee’s over.

“She’s there investigating corruption in the unit, her dad is a pretty high up guy… he’s also a prick, but that’s neither here nor there,” Lexa continued when they were alone again, “they partnered her with you because they’ve seen your file, they know you’re one of the good guys. I want you to help her, in any way you can. If tonight goes wrong, things are going to go very bad, very quickly…”

“Come on, Lex,” Bellamy said with a small smile, “talk to me, really talk to me, I thought we were friends.”

“We are,” Lexa said with a small nod, “which is why I’m here.”

Lexa took two envelopes from her pocket, putting them on the table as she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“Marcus, my lawyer, passed on a couple of files to Costia,” she continued, “they prove that Cage and his father are both deeply involved with the corruption, they indicate a lot of other people as well, so that’s my good deed on that front. If things go wrong tonight, I need you to make sure Marcus gets this…”

She pushed one of the envelopes across the table to Bellamy.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing that can get you into trouble,” Lexa said with a small laugh, “it just ties up a few legal odds and ends. Give this to Clarke…”

She passed him the other envelope.

“Lexa…” he said.

“Just make sure she gets it, okay?” Lexa asked.

“Okay,” he replied with a nod, “just so you know, I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I.” Lexa said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was lying on her back on the floor in the living room, her hands behind her head, looking up at the ceiling when Clarke got back from wherever she had been.

“There’s a perfectly good sofa there that you can lay on,” Clarke said as she saw Lexa, “you know that right…”

“Yep.” Lexa replied, “but someone doesn’t want to move.”

Lexa motioned down to her stomach and Clarke couldn’t help the small smile that played on her lips as she saw the cat curled up asleep on Lexa.

“Good to see you’re making friends.” Clarke said.

“We had a good talk while you were out.” Lexa said a smirk on her lips, “I agreed to this and he agreed to not sleep on the bed anymore.”

“Are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?” the blonde asked with a sigh as she sat on the sofa.

“You bought an elephant?” Lexa asked, “I know I agreed to us keeping the cat, but an elephant, that’s a big responsibility.”

“Lexa, I’m serious.” Clarke replied, her tone letting Lexa know that she was indeed serious.

“I know.” Lexa said with a sigh, her eyes fixed back on the ceiling, “I just don’t know what you expect me to say.”

“You could’ve talked to me about this, before talking to Roan,” Clarke said, “you told me that you were just going to talk to him, not that you were going to agree to kill his mother.”

“It’s the best thing for everyone,” Lexa replied, moving the cat from her stomach before she sat up, crossing her legs as she faced Clarke, “the world is not going to stop just because there’s one less person like Nia in it. That woman is pure evil, Clarke.”

“She’s still a person, Lexa,” Clarke said, “a living, breathing human being, and you’re going to end her life.”

“She is the reason that my parents are dead,” Lexa said, “she’s the reason that my entire childhood got fucked up. I don’t know how many lives she’s responsible for ending, but it’s certainly more than I have taken. I know you want to save everyone, Clarke, that’s just part of who you are, but… the world will be a better place without her. This city will be safer without her. Roan and I have an agreement, with her gone, the fighting will stop. If I can save more of my people by ending her, then I’ll do it”

 

“I don’t see why it has to be you…” Clarke said, her eyes starting to cloud over with tears.

“Someone else might get it wrong.” Lexa replied with a soft smile.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Is everyone clear on what they have to do?” Lexa asked as she looked around the group that was gathered at the warehouse, “if anyone has any questions, now is the time.”

“Can we go to the little 24/7 diner for breakfast after this?” Anya asked, twirling her knife around in her hand.

“Yeah,” Lexa replies with a small nod and a laugh, “I’ll even pay for your pancakes.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Everyone was in position, Lexa checked the time again on her phone, it was coming up 4:45am, Clarke would probably be in bed by now.

“Kill the lights.” Lexa said looking over at Nyko who nodded before hitting the light switch on the wall, sending the whole building into darkness.

Lexa moved over to the door, opening it a little she stood and watched the street, it was silent, completely deserted. Raven had given Anya and Tristan a radio each, leaving another with Lexa. She hit the button on the side of it.

“Anything happening with you two?” she asked.

“Nothing yet.” Tristan replied.

“I got nothing.” Anya said, “wait, car turning towards you now…”

“Show time.” Lexa said, putting the hood up on the black hoody she was wearing under her leather jacket.

She stood and waited as the car came to a stop outside the warehouse. The driver got out and walked to the front of the car, lifting the hood. When the hood was blocking out the front window he glanced over to the warehouse. His eyes met Lexa’s and he nodded a little.

The back door of the car opened and Nia stepped out. She walked round to the front of the car.

“What seems to be the problem?” she asked the driver.

Lexa’s eyes followed her as she walked. The brunette slipped out of the warehouse door as Nia’s back was to her. She got the knife she was carrying out from the holster at the base of her back. Just as she was about to walk up behind the woman, the other back door of the car opened. Lexa stepped back into the shadows of the warehouse. This was certainly not part of the plan at all. A small smile played on her lips as she recognised the man who stepped from the car. Dante Wallace. Lexa twisted the knife in her hand, sliding the blade up her sleeve. She stepped from the shadows, Dante’s head turning immediately as he saw her.

“Car trouble?” Lexa asked, slowly walking over towards the car, she signalled with her hand a little, it was a sign that Nyko was waiting for and he walked out of the warehouse behind her.

“It would seem so.” Dante said, at that moment Lexa knew that the hood she was wearing was doing its job and shrouding her face in darkness.

She kept her head lowered a little as she looked towards Nia who had turned at the sound of her voice.

“What…” Nia started to say.

Lexa smirked a little as she dropped the hood and looked at the woman now standing in front of her.

“Such a nice evening for a walk, don’t you think.” Lexa said, as she looked at the driver.

He nodded his head and turned and literally ran from the car.

“You do not want to do this.” Dante said to Lexa.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Lexa said as she looked at him, seeing Anya walk across the road behind him as Lincoln stepped out of the alleyway and Tristan got out of the car, “because this is exactly what I want to do.”

“Do you have any idea who I am?” he asked.

Lexa laughed, really laughed.

“Oh that is a classic,” she said, “now I’m going to ask you, do you have any idea who I am?”

“What’s going on here, Lexa?” Nia asked, her eyes widening by the second as she realised just what was about to happen.

“Family take-over,” Lexa replied, almost echoing the words Nia had spoken to her the night Grounders was set on fire, “such a messy business.”

“Whatever my son is offering you…” Nia started to say.

“Is something you can’t match.” Lexa replied.

“Lexa…” Dante said, “Alexandria Woods? Gustus Trikru’s niece?”

“So you do know who I am.” Lexa said as she looked at him, “I suppose I should be flattered.”

“Your uncle and I…” Dante started to say.

“I’m not sure how long you’ve been out of the city,” Lexa said, “but my uncle is dead.”

“How?” Dante asked, looking at Nia, “and why did you not tell me?”

“The how, I can answer,” Lexa replied, “I killed him. As for why she didn’t tell you, I’m guessing that if you knew my uncle was dead you wouldn’t have come back here, and she obviously needs you in the city for some reason.”

“Lex,” Lincoln said, “it’s gone 5…”

Lexa nodded a little, she knew what Lincoln was getting at, if she took much longer they risked someone seeing them.

“If you spare my life, my son, he’s a cop…” Dante said.

“And now the begging starts, I was expecting that earlier if I’m being honest.” Lexa said as she walked up behind Nia, she slipped the blade from her sleeve, “your son has been trying to arrest me for years, you can’t offer me anything that will make me spare your life. On your knees Nia.”

“Lexa…” Nia said as the brunette walked up behind her.

“I said,” Lexa said, putting her foot to the back of Nia’s knees and pushing it forward, causing the woman to drop to her knees, “on your knees.”

“You’re going to regret this.” Nia said as Lexa put the blade to her throat.

“Oh I don’t think so.” Lexa said, glancing over at Anya and nodding a little, Anya repeating the action with Dante, “Roan sends his regards.”

With that Lexa pulled the blade across the woman’s throat, stepping back as blood started to spurt from the wound as Nia collapsed onto the road. Anya slit Dante’s throat and looked over the car to Lexa.

“Pancakes?” she asked.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When she woke up the apartment was quiet, Clarke had a very uneasy feeling in her stomach, she had fully intended to stay awake and wait for Lexa to get home, but she had obviously fallen asleep at some point. She ran her hands over Lexa’s side of the bed, finding the sheets cold, the other girl had not slept in the bed. As she got out of the bed she picked up her phone, she had a text from Bellamy.

 **Bellamy** : Turn on the news princess.

Clarke made her way from the bedroom, stopping when she saw Lexa asleep on the sofa. Clarke’s heart finally returned to its normal rhythm as she noticed that the brunette didn’t have a scratch on her.

She picked up the remote control for the television and put on the local news channel, turning the volume down so she didn’t wake Lexa.

“A repeat of our local news headline now,” the news reporter said, “earlier this morning a car was found abandoned in the city, police were called to the scene where they found local gang leader Nia Queen with her throat cut, nearby they also found the body of ex-city Commissioner Dante Wallace. Police are refusing to comment on possible suspects at this time…”

Clarke turned the television off and looked back to the sofa, Lexa as now awake, her eyes focused on the blonde.

“You did it…” Clarke said, relief in her voice.

Lexa nodded a little.

“Wasn’t expecting Dante to be there,” she said, “so plans changed…”

“You okay?” Clarke asked as she walked over to the sofa and sat next to Lexa.

“I don’t know…” the brunette said with a shrug, her brow furrowed slightly.

“It means no more fighting, right?” Clarke asked, as she took Lexa’s hand in hers, lacing their fingers together.

“That’s the idea.” Lexa said with a nod, looking at her hand in Clarke’s, “if Roan keeps his word…”

“You think he won’t?” the blonde said.

“I think he intends to keep his word,” Lexa replied, “I think that he really wants to, but I’m worried about how loyal his people are going to be now Nia’s dead… she told me I was going to regret it…”

“Do you?” Clarke asked.

“Not yet.” Lexa said quietly.

Lexa’s phone beeped, Clarke picked it up from the table and handed it to her.

 **Bellamy:** I have those letters for you, I’ll drop them round later, champ.

Lexa smiled a little as she shook her head.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay on this one. I hope you all enjoy this update.

 

Waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat from a nightmare wasn’t a new thing for Lexa, but it hadn’t happened in a while, and it certainly hadn’t happened when she had been sharing a bed with Clarke. While she tried to calm her breathing and heart rate down, she felt Clarke softly rubbing her back.

“Sorry…” Lexa said quietly as she ran her hand through her hair.

“Are you okay?” the blonde asked.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a small nod, “yeah, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Clarke asked in reply.

“Not really.” The brunette said, glancing over her shoulder a little at the blonde, “I’m going to get a glass of water, you go back to sleep.”

As Lexa got out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweat pants before leaving the room, Clarke sighed as she lay there in bed.

Lexa got a glass of water before going to sit on the sofa, she put the television on and started flicking through the channels to try and find something to watch, anything to take her mind off the nightmare that she had woken from. While she was channel hopping she heard the door to the other bedroom open and close quietly, glancing to the hallway she saw Anya walking towards the living room.

“You okay?” Anya asked as she sat on the sofa near Lexa.

“Bad dream,” Lexa replied with a shrug, “you?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Anya said, “you wanna talk about it?”

“Do you remember a few years ago,” Lexa said, “Nia was lining her niece up to take over…”

“Ontari,” Anya said with a nod, “I remember. You put her in hospital before she got locked up.”

“Do you remember what she said when they took her from the dock?” Lexa asked in reply.

“Something about how she was going to take everyone you cared about from you and kill them slowly.” Anya said, recalling the day they had been standing at the back of the court room as Ontari was found guilty of the charges she faced, “you haven’t thought about her in years, why now?”

“She gets out in a week…” Lexa said with a sigh, “Marcus sent me an email earlier telling me that they’re releasing her on probation… in the nightmare she had Tris and Clarke at Grounders… I couldn’t save them both… I…”

“It was just a nightmare, Lex,” Anya said softly, “nothing more. Plus, with Nia gone, Roan isn’t going to let her do anything that’s going to risk this… whatever it is you two have going on.”

“Yeah.” Lexa replied with a nod.

“Bellamy was here earlier right?” Anya asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah he was.” Lexa said, “he wanted to drop round something I’d asked him to hold onto for me.”

“Did he happen to mention if the cops are looking at anyone for Nia and Dante?” the other girl asked in reply.

“He said that Cage is sure that I had something to do with it,” Lexa said, looking at her cousin, “but he can’t prove anything. Some of the other cops think Roan had something to do with it, something about how it was pretty public knowledge in Azgeda circles that Nia and Roan didn’t really see eye to eye.”

“And how is the investigation going about Gustus?” Anya asked, her jaw clenching slightly as she spoke.

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied, “I mean they know I did it, there’s video evidence that shows I did it, I guess it’s up to the district attorney to decide whether to prosecute or just put it down as self-defence.”

“Which is was.” Anya said with a nod.

“Yeah,” Lexa said with a nod of her own, “I really didn’t want it to come down to that you know…”

“I know,” Anya replied, “we all know… you never did tell me how you managed to be in the alleyway.”

“I dropped Clarke at work,” the brunette replied, looking down at her hands as her brow furrowed a little, “Gustus called me, said he wanted to talk, said we could work something out. He made it sound like he was going to leave, that he had a few things he wanted to talk through first… so I went to meet him.”

“Alone?” Anya asked, “that was really stupid.”

“I guess,” Lexa said with a nod, “I just figured that… he raised me, you know, I just…”

“Mom thinks he probably had it all planned out,” Anya replied, “that he knew that’s what it would come down to.”

“She mentioned something to me about that,” Lexa said with a nod, “the day of his funeral she said he knew it would come down to a him or me thing… I wanted him to leave, I didn’t want…”

“You did what you had to do,” Anya said, “he gave you no choice.”

“I just keep running over and over it in my head,” the brunette said, shaking her head a little, “maybe if I’d have done something differently, maybe if…"

“Then you’d be dead instead of him.” Anya replied.

“I could’ve given Bellamy the information he needed to bring him down,” Lexa said with a sigh, “if I’d have done that…”

“Then you’d have spent the rest of your life running,” Anya said, “which isn’t the way you do things.”

Both girls looked towards Lexa’s room when they heard the door open and they saw Clarke walk from the room. Anya looked at Lexa and smiled a little.

“I’m going to try and get some more sleep.” Anya said.

Lexa nodded a little as Anya walked away from the sofa and back in the direction of the room she was staying in, sharing a small smile with Clarke as they passed each other.

“I thought you were going back to sleep.” Lexa said to the blonde as she sat down on the sofa.

“And I thought you were just getting a glass of water.” Clarke replied with a small smile, as she turned a little on the sofa so she was looking at Lexa, “talk to me, Lex…”

“About what?” Lexa asked in reply.

“What were you dreaming about?” Clarke said, “it was obviously something pretty bad.”

“Four years ago I was out on a job with Ryder,” Lexa said, “Gustus had sent us to pick up a delivery from one of his contacts just outside the city. The fighting with Azgeda was pretty bad at that point, we were both losing people every week, people were getting locked up or killed. While we were waiting for this guy to show up, a couple of the Azgeda turned up, things went bad…”

Clarke softly took Lexa’s hand in hers, silently encouraging the brunette to continue.

“At that time, Nia was lining up her niece to take over from her,” Lexa continued, “she and Roan have never seen eye to eye, he’s never really agreed with the way she did things, but he had no choice but to go along with it… Her niece, Ontari, was one of the Azgeda that turned up that day. There was a fight, Ontari pulled a gun… She was going to shoot me, she missed, shot the girl she had brought with her instead.”

Lexa clenched her jaw before she continued.

“Ryder and I got out of there,” Lexa said, “let Gustus know what happened before we headed back to the city. It turned out that the girl Ontari had with her was her girlfriend, she died. They couldn’t prove that Ontari had shot her, she got rid of the gun before the cops turned up, but as they searched her car they found that she had another gun in there. She’d been arrested before for carrying a weapon without the proper licence for it, so she got arrested for possession of the gun, it was all they could arrest her for. She blamed me for her girlfriend dying. Anya and I went to the last day of her trial, and obviously she was found guilty and locked up, as she was being led from the dock she saw me there and shouted how she was going to take everyone I cared about from me, and kill them slowly. She gets out next week. That was obviously playing on my mind as I went to sleep, cause in my nightmare she had Tris and you at Grounders, I had to choose who to save…”

“It was just a nightmare,” Clarke said with a soft smile, “nothing is going to happen to me, or Tris, you know that, right?”

“She’s had four years to think about it,” Lexa replied, “four years is a long time for someone to plan shit…”

“Lexa,” Clarke said, using her hand to turn Lexa’s head so she was looking at her, “nothing is going to happen.”

“You can’t know that…” Lexa said.

“No, I can’t,” Clarke admitted, “but I know you, and I know that you’re not going to let anything happen.”

“What if I’m not here,” the brunette replied, “what if…”

Clarke stopped Lexa talking by kissing her, which took Lexa by surprise, but it didn’t take her very long to recover from the surprise and return the kiss.

“It was just a bad dream…” Clarke said quietly as she backed out of the kiss a little and rested her forehead against Lexa’s, the brunette nodding slightly.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sitting in the park, watching as Lincoln and Tris played catch with a baseball. She saw Roan walking towards her out of the corner of her eye, she glanced over at him before looking back at Tris and Lincoln.

“I thought I should let you know the cops came to see me this morning.” Roan said as he sat on the bench next to Lexa.

“And you figured the best way to let me know was to come and talk to me?” Lexa replied, “Like they don’t already think I had something to do with it.”

“They actually asked me if I thought you or Trikru were involved,” he said, “I told them, as far as I knew, you’d had no dealings with my mother.”

“Which is bullshit, and they know that.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “who came to see you?”

“Bellamy Blake, and your ex.” Roan said, “I got the feeling they didn’t really want to be there.”

“Have you heard about your cousin getting out?” Lexa asked, glancing over at Roan.

“Yes,” Roan replied with a small nod, “she called me yesterday, passing on her condolences. Obviously she wasn’t going to say too much as all her calls are probably being recorded, but she told me that she’ll see me when she gets out. She said something about telling you that she’ll see you soon as well.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Lexa said, clenching her jaw a little, “I’ll warn you now, I see her and I’m going to act first and ask questions later…”

“I’m aware of the threats that she made on the last day of her trial,” Roan said, “I wasn’t there, but a few others were and they told me. I’ll keep her in line, make sure that she behaves.”

“If she even threatens anyone I care about, I will kill her.” Lexa said, looking at him, “I’m more than prepared to go to jail for protecting what’s mine.”

“Noted.” He said with a nod, “I’ll leave you to it. If I hear anything else…”

“Get someone else to come and talk to me,” Lexa replied, “or leave a message with Luna or something. It’s going to do neither of us any good if the cops see us together.”

“We still need to talk about what happens next with our people.” Roan said as he stood up.

“Meet me at Luna’s, tomorrow night.” Lexa said, “we’ll go over everything then.”

Roan didn’t say anything else, he just nodded a little before he walked away in the direction he came from. Nyko and Ryder walked over to the bench Lexa was sitting on as soon as they saw Roan leave.

“Problems?” Ryder asked.

“Not yet,” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little, “but if he doesn’t seriously start to think about what he’s doing, he’s going to get us both arrested.”

“Surely the cops would think the two of you talking is a good thing,” Nyko said, “it’ll mean less violence and less work for them in the long run.”

“Until they think they can link either one or both of us to the death of his mother,” Lexa said, “they already think I had something to do with it, and it’s a little weird if suddenly he and I are seen talking a lot.”

“But the cops haven’t even talked to you about that.” Ryder replied.

“That’s only because Marcus threatened to file a complaint of harassment if they approached me about it with nothing linking me to it.” Lexa said with a small smile, “they know they messed up with the Gustus investigation, so they know that Marcus would have no problem getting a judge to agree with him.”

“Are you going to get a discount on his hourly rate soon?” Ryder asked with a smirk, “I mean he is banging your girlfriend’s mom, right?”

“Oh god…” Lexa said with a laugh, “I seriously don’t want to think about that.”

Lincoln motioned for Lexa to go over to him as the brunette saw Tris talking to a young blonde girl.

“You two stay here.” Lexa said to Ryder and Nyko as she stood up and walked over to where Lincoln was.

Lexa fought to keep the smile from her face as she saw Tris blushing a little as the blonde girl talked to her.

“What’s going on?” Lexa asked Lincoln quietly.

“That’s Megan…” Lincoln replied.

“You okay, Tris?” Lexa asked with a smirk as she looked at the young girl.

“Yep.” Tris said with a nod, not meeting Lexa’s eyes, “this is Megan, my friend from school.”

Lexa crouched down next to Tris and whispered in her ear.

“Do you want to see if she wants to come with us to get ice cream?” Lexa asked, causing Tris to look at her, a questioning look in her eyes, causing Lexa to nod a little.

“We’re going to get ice cream,” Tris said to Megan, “you can come with us if you want.”

“I need to go and ask my mom.” Megan said with a smile before running off to talk to a woman who was sitting on a bench not far from where Lexa had been sitting.

“So that’s Megan huh?” Lexa asked with a smirk as she stood back up.

“Shut up.” Tris replied with a pout which caused Lexa and Lincoln to laugh.

Megan walked back over to where the three of them were standing, followed by her mother.

“Hi, I’m Callie, Megan’s mom.” The woman said to Lexa and Lincoln.

“I’m Lexa, this is Lincoln,” Lexa replied, “we’re friends of Tris’s mom. We were about to take Tris for ice cream, and she wanted to know if it was okay if Megan came with us.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

A little later, Lexa and Lincoln were sitting with Tris and Megan at The Dropship after Megan’s mom agreed to the girl joining them for ice cream, saying that she’d pick her daughter up an hour later. While the two girls were chatting and laughing while enjoying their ice cream Clarke arrived. She smiled as she saw the group, walking over to them and sitting in the empty seat next to Lexa.

“Hey…” Clarke said with another smile as she softly kissed Lexa’s cheek.

“Hey,” Lexa replied, “how’s your mom?”

“She wanted to tell me that she has a boyfriend,” Clarke said with a small nod, “which is… weird.”

“She and Marcus decided to do the dating thing then?” Lexa asked.

“They did.” Clarke replied, “is it wrong that I find it weird?”

“No,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “it’s not. But he’s a good guy, give him a chance.”

“As long as he makes her happy, I’m okay with it.” the blonde said.

“Hey Clarke.” Tris said with a big smile as she finally noticed that Clarke had joined them.

“Hey squirt.” Clarke replied with a smile of her own.

“Clarke, this is Megan, Tris’s friend from school.” Lexa said.

“Hi Megan, I’m Clarke.” the blonde said as she looked at the young girl.

“Clarke is Lexa’s girlfriend.” Tris said, her eyes flicking to Megan before she looked down at her ice cream.

“Girlfriend?” Megan asked, looking between Clarke and Lexa, “like… proper girlfriends?”

Lexa nodded a little as the girl looked surprised.

“That’s really cool.” Megan said with a smile before she started talking excitedly to Tris.

Lexa and Clarke looked at each other and shared a small smile.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ontari gets out of jail and things start going to hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the massive delay with this part, I'm not sure I actually like it, but I'm posting it anyway. Time for Lexa to remember that the life of a gangster can't be all sunshine and flowers. Drop me a comment, let me know what you think.

 

Lexa was sitting in the small office at Grounders, the repair work going well on the bar, she was going through some paperwork. A knock at the door caught her attention.

“Yes.” She said.

The door opened and Anya stuck her head around the door.

“Cops are here.” Anya said.

Lexa stood up from the chair behind the desk as Bellamy and Costia walked into the office.

“What can I do for you?” Lexa asked, walking around the table and leaning against the front of it.

“In the last three days, 5 people have died of drug overdoses,” Bellamy said, “all 5 had used heroin, the doctors at the hospital have told us that it wasn’t the purity of the drug which caused the deaths, it was what the drugs have been mixed with.”

“And why do you think this involves me?” Lexa asked, knowing that the import and sales of drugs within the city was one of the things that her gang were involved in.

“The drugs were reported to have been bought in the north of the city,” Costia said, “near Luna’s bar to be precise.”

“Then you’re talking to the wrong person,” Lexa replied, “it’s not me you need to be talking to.”

“We know that,” Bellamy replied, “we’re hoping that you can help us.”

“I don’t see how.” Lexa said, looking between Bellamy and Costia.

“We have information that the small gang selling the drugs are run by a man called Carl Emerson,” Bellamy said, “though he has connections to Ontari Queen.”

“Who?” Lexa asked, clenching her jaw a little, knowing full well who both people were.

“Lexa…” Costia said with a sigh, “we’re not here to arrest you or wait for you to incriminate yourself, this isn’t about your business or anything else. This is about us asking you for help to save lives. We know that you have some kind of connection to Ontari Queen, we know that you two have a history. If you don’t do this to help us save lives, do it for your business and your people.”

“Let me see what I can find out.” Lexa said, “I’ll make a couple of calls, talk to a few people…”

“Thank you.” Costia replied.

“Yeah…” Lexa said with a small nod, “is that everything?”

“For now.” Bellamy replied.

As Bellamy and Costia left the office Anya walked into the room.

“What was that all about?” Anya asked as Lexa walked back around the desk and sat down.

“5 people dying in the last 3 days due to bad quality drugs,” Lexa replied with a sigh as she picked up her phone, “Emerson’s group sold them apparently.”

“Emerson?” Anya asked, “I thought we got rid of him.”

“So did I…” Lexa said, bringing up Roan’s number on her phone, before hitting call.

Anya stood, leaning against the wall near the door, as Lexa waited for Roan to answer the phone.

“Hello.” Roan said as he answered the phone.

“You have a problem.” Lexa said, leaning back in her chair.

“I have more than one,” Roan replied, “do you want to narrow it down a little?”

“Your cousin,” Lexa said, “she’s been connected to some bad drugs that have made their way into the city.”

“All drugs are bad, Lexa.” Roan said, amusement in his voice.

“Funny guy,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “you ever thought about a change in career… these drugs have killed 5 people in the last 3 days.”

“And you think Ontari is somehow involved?” he asked with a sigh.

“Emerson and his little group sold them, though from what I’ve been told there are links to Ontari.” Lexa replied.

“Carl Emerson?” Roan asked.

“You know another Emerson?” the brunette asked in reply.

“Ontari wants me to bring his little group into the Azgeda,” Roan said, “something about it making good business sense, as they operate mainly in the neutral zone.”

“You bring them into your organisation, Roan, and you won’t have an organisation,” Lexa said, “I will wipe you out.”

“I’m sensing a history there.” Roan replied.

“He shot me.” Lexa said, “a few years ago.”

“And he’s still alive?” Roan asked.

“Well obviously…” Lexa said with a sigh, “Gustus said it was taken care of, and Emerson disappeared. As he’s back it obviously wasn’t as taken care of as I was told it was.”

“It seems that there’s a lot that Gustus said was taken care of that isn’t,” Roan replied, “maybe you should concentrate on a little house cleaning before you take on more than you can handle.”

“That sounds surprisingly like a threat, Roan.” Lexa said.

“It wasn’t,” Roan said with a sigh, “it…”

“You’ve got 24 hours to get those drugs off my streets, Roan,” Lexa said interrupting him, “or I’ll take care of it myself, and it will get messy.”

Lexa hung up the phone and put it down on the table.

“Go to Luna’s,” she said to Anya, “take Nyko with you. Emerson is obviously working in that area; I want all the information you can get me.”

Anya nodded a little before she left the room.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sitting on her bike down by the city docks, Anya had called her and told her that a delivery was coming into the city that afternoon, and instead of sending someone else to check it out, Lexa decided to go herself. The part of the docks they were at was well inside Trikru territory, a large section of the dock workers who worked that part of the docks were on the Trikru payroll, which had Lexa wondering why they hadn’t been told about Azgeda doing business there. As Lexa looked around the immediate area she was in she could see an Azgeda car, knowing it was a gang car because of the cracked ice effect that was on the hood of the car. She watched as Emerson got out of the car and walked over to one of the dock workers who handed him a package, before Emerson got back in the car.

As she car drove away Lexa got off her bike and walked over to the docks. The dock worker who had handed Emerson the package was one of those that Lexa knew was on the Trikru payroll. She watched as he walked into the main office before she followed him inside. She stood in the doorway of the office and watched as the man whistled to himself as he put an envelope into a drawer. As he turned back towards the door, he visibly jumped as he saw Lexa standing there.

“Miss.. Miss Woods…” he stuttered as Lexa closed the door before she turned back to face him.

“Sit down.” Lexa said, as she motioned to the chair.

The man did as she said and sat down on the chair.

“So,” Lexa said, looking at the name badge the man wore, “Rory, explain to me what I just saw.”

“Mr Emerson was… picking up a delivery.” He said, still stuttering a little.

“And how often does Mr Emerson pick up these deliveries?” Lexa asked, leaning against the side of the desk as she looked at Rory.

“There has been three in the last week.” He replied, “More due in the coming days.”

“And you didn’t think you should let me know?” Lexa asked, a small smile tugging at her lips.

“Mr Trikru…” he started to say, Lexa clenched her jaw and took the knife out from where it sat at the base of her back, jamming it into the table next to Rory’s hand, making him jump backwards.

“When is the next delivery due?” Lexa asked calmly.

“Two days from now,” Rory replied, his eyes flicking from the knife to Lexa, “same time.”

“Let me make one thing clear, Rory,” Lexa said, leaning forwards a little closer to the man, “you don’t work for Mr Trikru, you never did. You work for me…”

Rory nodded his head quickly.

“Someone will be here to collect that delivery before Mr Emerson arrives in two days,” Lexa said, pulling her knife from the table and turning it in her hands, “are there any other deliveries I should know about?”

“Tonight, midnight,” he said, “a large shipment is due in for Ontari Queen…”

“Is she due to collect it herself?” Lexa asked.

“No,” Rory said shaking his head, “Emerson will be collecting it.”

“Thank you, Rory.” Lexa said, standing up and putting her knife back in the holster, before walking towards the door, “go change your pants.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was walking down main street towards Ravens garage when she noticed a car that had already driven past her twice. The car stopped just ahead of her and a man and a woman got out, she had never seen either of them before. As they looked at her she knew she had two choices, turn around or carry on walking, so she continued to walk in the direction she was going.

“Doctor Griffin, right?” the woman asked as Clarke got closer.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Clarke asked in reply.

“No,” the brunette woman said, a smile on her lips as she shook her head a little, “you’ve met my cousin though, Roan.”

Clarke nodded her head a little.

“What can I do for you?” she asked, trying to keep her heartrate steady as she realised just who this woman was.

“Think of this more as what I can do for you,” Ontari said, the small smile still on her lips, “you see, we’re expanding, so to speak, and…”

“Roan mentioned something like that,” Clarke said, interrupting her, “and I’ll tell you the same thing I told him, we’re not interested.”

“You seem to believe you have a choice.” Ontari said, “that’s sweet.”

Clarke shook her head a little and moved to keep walking towards Raven’s garage.

“Things are going to change around here, Clarke.” Ontari said, gripping hold of Clarke’s arm so hard the blonde knew it would bruise, “You really don’t want to be on the wrong side.”

“Is there some kind of problem here?” Anya asked as she walked over towards Ontari and Clarke.

“Anya Trikru.” Ontari said, “it’ been a long time.”

“Not long enough,” Anya said, “let her go.”

Ontari let go of Clarke’s arm, the blonde fighting her hardest not to rub the area the girl had held onto.

“You might want to leave,” Anya said, her eyes fixed on Ontari, “Lexa’s on her way.”

Clarke saw Ontari look at the guy she was with, tilting her head a little to tell him to get in the car.

“Tell Lexa I’ll see her soon.” Ontari said to Anya before she walked around the car and got in.

Anya and Clarke stood in silence as they watched the car drive away.

“Are you okay?” Anya said as she looked at Clarke.

“Yeah,” Clarke said with a nod, “so that was Ontari, right?”

“Yeah,” Anya replied, “that was Ontari, what did she want?”

“She said something about them expanding.” The blonde said, “Lexa already told me that Nia had wanted to expand to include the clinic, and Luna’s… I guess Ontari is wanting to continue that.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Anya said, shaking her head a little, “her being out here does complicate things though. Where are you headed?”

“Raven’s,” Clarke said, “I’m supposed to be meeting her for a late lunch.”

“You should be fine between here and there,” Anya replied, “if there’s any more trouble get Raven to give me a call.”

“Lexa isn’t on her way, is she?” Clarke asked with a small smile.

“Nope,” Anya said with a small smirk, “she’s dealing with something at the docks, but Ontari didn’t know that. It’ll probably be best not to tell Lexa about this either…”

Clarke nodded a little.

“Okay,” she said, knowing that it would just piss Lexa off and worry her if she found out that Ontari had talked to Clarke, “I’m going to see Raven.”

“Try not to get into too much trouble.” Anya said as Clarke turned and walked towards Raven’s garage.

“No promises.” Clarke called back.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Hours later and Clarke was at work, it was another quiet night at the clinic, as it had been every night since Nia had died. The blonde was standing at the reception desk with Harper, the other girl showing her pictures of her new puppy, when the door opened and Lincoln walked in, his arm around Tristan as he held the man up.

“What happened?” Clarke asked as she rushed over to them, shaking her head as Lincoln shot her a look, “never mind, get him in 2.”

The door didn’t have time to close before Lexa and Nyko walked in, Marius between them. The brunette girl had blood on her hands and her clothes.

“Lexa…” Clarke said.

“It’s not mine.” Lexa replied shaking her head a little.

“Put him in exam room 3,” Clarke said, before she looked at Harper, “call my mom.”

Harper nodded a little as Clarke followed Lexa and Nyko.

“Clarke…” Harper said, stopping Clarke in her tracks.

The blonde turned and looked back at the door, two Azgeda members were standing there holding up someone else. She could feel Lexa move behind her, putting her arm out she stopped Lexa passing her.

“Exam room 6.” Clarke said to one of the nurses who was near the reception desk.

“Clarke…” Lexa said.

“You don’t own this clinic, Lexa,” Clarke said as she turned to the girl, “we can’t turn people away who need help.”

Lexa clenched her jaw a little as she looked at Clarke before she let out a long breath and shook her head a little, turning and walking into the room where Nyko had taken Marius.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Abby arrived not long afterwards to find the clinic in a stand-off. Trikru one side, Azgeda the other, a noticeable gap between the two.

“Where’s Clarke?” she asked Harper.

“Exam room 6.” Harper replied.

Abby walked to Exam room 6 to see Clarke treating one of the Azgeda, understanding quickly why there was tension in the clinic.

“What happened?” Abby asked as she walked into the room.

“I don’t know.” Clarke replied, not looking up at her mother as she sutured yet another wound on the man.

“I thought everything had quietened down after…” Abby started to say.

“It did,” Clarke said with a sigh, “knew it was too good to last.”

“Is…” Abby said.

“No,” Clarke interrupted, shaking her head a little, “she’s fine. She’s in 3 with Marius.”

Clarke finished working on the Azgeda guy.

“Okay,” the blonde said with a small smile as she stood up, “all done. You’re going to need to come back in 7-10 days to get those taken out.”

The man nodded a little.

“Thank you, Doctor Griffin.” He said.

Clarke took the latex gloves off and put them in the trash before she left the room, Abby following behind her. The two Griffin women walked from the room and towards where the Trikru were standing, the small group parting as the two doctors walked through them.

They went into Exam room 2 where Octavia was finishing up with Tristan, Lincoln still sitting in with his friend.

“Everything okay in here?” Clarke asked.

“Yep,” Octavia said with a small nod, “all done. How’re our other patients?”

“No serious damage,” the blonde replied, “Marius seems to have got the worst of… whatever happened.”

“He took a blade that was meant for Lexa.” Lincoln said, his eyes flicking up at the blonde.

“I thought Lexa and Roan had an agreement.” Clarke said.

“They do,” Lincoln said with a nod, “this wasn’t Roan’s doing.”

“Ontari…” Clarke said with a sigh.

Lincoln looked at Clarke, a questioning look in his eyes.

“We met earlier today.” Clarke said.

“Does she know who you are to Lexa?” Lincoln asked.

“She didn’t seem to,” the blonde said, shaking her head a little, “she was just talking about expanding their territory. She didn’t mention Lexa at all.”

“Okay,” Lincoln said with a small nod, “that’s good.”

“Why is that good?” Octavia asked, her eyes narrowing a little as she looked at Lincoln.

“Lexa and Ontari have… history.” Clarke said, answering so Lincoln didn’t have to, “she blames Lexa for something that happened 4 years ago.”

“Bitch is crazy.” Tristan muttered from the bed.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke walked into Exam room 3 where Lexa and Nyko were both still sitting with Marius.

“What happened?” Clarke asked.

“I was set up.” Lexa replied, “bad information.”

“Who’s blood are you covered in, Lexa?” the blonde asked.

“Dock worker.” Lexa said, not taking her eyes off Marius who was still out cold.

“I’m guessing he’s the one who gave you the information…” Clarke said.

“He lied to me, twice,” Lexa replied, “he won’t be doing that again.”

“Where is he?” Clarke asked.

“Which part of him?” Lexa asked, her words sending a shiver down Clarke’s spine.

“Lexa, you…” Clarke started to say.

“He set me up,” Lexa said, interrupting her, as she turned to look at Clarke, “told me there was a delivery arriving tonight at the docks for Ontari, said Emerson was going to be picking it up. We arrived to find the Azgeda already there… what was I supposed to do, Clarke, shake his hand and say thank you?”

“You didn’t have to kill him.” Clarke replied.

“Yes, I did.” Lexa said, standing up from where she was sitting, “or it would send a clear message that it’s okay to betray me, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“A beating wasn’t enough?” Clarke asked, “that wouldn’t have been a warning enough?”

“The warning was earlier, he didn’t listen to it,” Lexa said as she walked closer to the door, stopping as she reached the blonde, “you know who I am, Clarke…”

Clarke closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Lexa left the room.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Octavia handed Clarke a cup of hot chocolate before she sat next to the blonde on the sofa at their apartment.

“You okay?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t know…” Clarke replied with a shrug, “Should I be?”

“You knew who…” Octavia started to say.

“3 people in a matter of weeks…” Clarke said, her brow furrowed a little.

“What?” Octavia asked, looking at the blonde.

“That’s how many people Lexa has killed.” Clarke replied, “that I know of…”

“Gustus was self-defence.” Octavia said, “it was either him or her, you know that.”

Clarke nodded a little.

“You knew who she was, Clarke,” Octavia said, “we did tell you…”

“How can she be so different…” the blonde said with a sigh, “it’s like she’s two different people, I thought I knew who she was… guess I had no idea…”

Clarke’s phone started to ring, both girls looked at it and saw that it was Lexa calling, again.

“You gonna get that?” Octavia asked.

Clarke shook her head and let the phone ring. The phone stopped ringing before it started ringing again, Octavia sighed and picked up the phone.

“Hello, Clarke’s phone.” She said.

“Is she there?” Lexa asked.

“Yeah she’s here.” Octavia replied.

“Can I talk to her?” the other girl asked, Octavia could hear the emotion clearly in Lexa’s voice.

“She… I don’t think…” Octavia started to say, not really knowing what to say, “give her time, Lexa.”

“Time isn’t going to change who I am, Octavia.” Lexa replied, “but I’ll give her time. She knows where I’ll be.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Anya stood in the doorway of the living room and watched as Lexa hung up the phone, before she put it on the table and downed the drink which was sitting next to it.

“What happened tonight?” Raven asked quietly as she walked up next to Anya.

“Thought you were asleep.” Anya replied, glancing at the girl before she looked back at Lexa.

“I was, now I’m not.” Raven said with a shrug, “Clarke not back from work yet?”

“I don’t think Clarke’s staying here tonight.” Anya said, her eyes still fixed on Lexa who had just topped up her glass again.

“You going to tell me what happened?” the other girl asked.

“We got some bad information from one of the guys at the docks,” Anya replied, “someone who was on our payroll… what should have been a simple interception of a delivery turned out to be a set up.”

“How bad?” Raven asked.

“Not as bad as it could’ve been,” Anya said with a sigh, “two of our guys hurt, three of theirs, one went to the clinic, two to the hospital.”

“And that’s why Clarke isn’t staying here?” Raven asked in reply.

“Lexa killed the guy who gave us the bad information.” Anya said simply.

“Ah…” Raven replied with a sigh and a nod, “and Clarke is freaking out.”

“She didn’t take it well.” Anya said.

“Well she knows Lexa isn’t a girl scout.” Raven said, “it’s not like it should have been a surprise.”

“Knowing what someone is capable of, and seeing it are two very different things.” Anya said as she looked at the other girl.

“Yeah,” Raven said with a nod, “and it’s Clarke… she sees all the good in the world and can’t seem to see the bad sometimes.”

“It had to be done.” Anya replied.

“I can hear you, you know,” Lexa said, finishing her drink, “you both suck at whispering.”

“You okay?” Raven asked as she walked into the living room and sat on one of the chairs.

“Top of the world, never better.” Lexa said, pouring herself another drink.

“She just needs…” Raven started to say.

“Time,” Lexa said with a nod, interrupting her, “yeah, that’s what Octavia said. But all the time in the world isn’t going to change who I am. It’s not going to change what I’ve done, and what I would do again if I had to. I had to send a message, I couldn’t let him get away with it…”

“What happens now with Roan?” Anya asked, walking into the room.

“When I talked to him earlier he said he had no idea what was going on,” Lexa said with a shrug, “they were Ontari’s people, not his.”

“Ontari knows that section of the docks is ours, right?” Anya asked, causing Lexa to nod a little, “She’s testing you, Lex. Seeing how far you’ll go.”

“If she keeps pushing, she’ll see how far I’ll go.” Lexa replied, standing up and picking up her drink, “I’m going to bed.”

Anya and Raven sat in the living room and watched as Lexa walked away to her bedroom.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa sat on the edge of her bed, the room still smelt of Clarke, the scent of the blonde was making her head spin. As she closed her eyes, flashes of what had happened earlier that night kept coming to her, as did the sick feeling in her stomach. She knew she had to send a message, she had to make people see that she was serious. If she hadn’t killed the dock worker, others would think they could pass on bad information or play her for a fool. For the safety of her family, those she cared about, she couldn’t let that happen.


	21. Chapter 21

 

Lexa was standing near the window in the living room, drinking her coffee, as the news channel played on the television.

“To recap,” the news presenter said, “we are expecting a statement from the Police chief in relation to the early morning arrests of 3 people on suspicion of supplying narcotics and the death of a worker at the docks last night.”

“Are they ours?” Anya asked, motioning to the television as she walked into the kitchen to make herself a coffee.

“Not that I know of.” Lexa replied, turning her attention back to the television.

“The 3 men are all suspected gang members,” the news reporter continued, “it is claimed they are members of the Azgeda gang, who’s leader, Nia Queen was recently found murdered in the city.”

“Guess that answers that question then.” Anya said with a shrug, walking back into the room with her cup in her hand, “How’s the head?”

“Fine, considering I didn’t drink that much last night.” Lexa replied with a sigh.

“Have you heard from Clarke?” Anya asked.

“No.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “something tells me I won’t.”

“She’ll come round.” Anya replied.

“Maybe.” Lexa said, finishing her coffee and putting her cup down on the coffee table, “I’m going to the gym.”

“Okay…” Anya said with a nod, watching as the younger girl picked up her jacket and left the apartment.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Anya made her way to Grounders, knowing that she needed to make sure the repair work was on track, Bellamy and Costia were waiting outside.

“Whatever this is about, I don’t have time for it.” Anya said, walking towards the main doors of the bar.

“Is Lexa around?” Bellamy asked.

“Does it look like it?” Anya asked in reply.

“We wanted to talk to her about what happened last night.” Costia said.

“No idea what you’re talking about,” Anya said, turning to look at the girl, “now, if that’s all, I’m pretty busy here.”

“Any idea where we can find her?” Costia asked.

“No,” Anya replied, “she left the apartment this morning, haven’t heard from her since.”

“I know someone who might know where she is.” Bellamy said to Costia.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke was sitting on the sofa when Octavia let Bellamy and Costia in the apartment.

“Clarke,” Octavia said, “Bell wants to talk to you about something… I’ll go make more coffee…”

“Clarke, this is…” Bellamy started to say as Octavia walked into the kitchen.

“We’ve already met.” Clarke said, looking between Bellamy and Costia, “what do you want Bell?”

“A dock worker was killed last night, and 3 Azgeda members arrested,” he said, getting to the point, “we need to talk to Lexa.”

“And that involves me, how?” Clarke asked.

“She isn’t answering my calls, Anya doesn’t know where she is,” Bellamy replied, “I was hoping you’d know where she is.”

“Haven’t seen her since last night,” the blonde said, “sorry.”

“When did you see her last night?” Costia asked.

“A little after 1:30.” Clarke replied, “she came into the clinic.”

“And you haven’t seen her since?” Costia asked in reply.

“No,” Clarke said, shaking her head a little, “I haven’t. You could check Grounders.”

“Already did,” Bellamy said, “Anya’s there, Lexa isn’t.”

“She might be at Luna’s.” the blonde replied, “but it’s a little early, it won’t be open yet… you could try the gym I guess.”

“Which gym?” Costia asked.

“The one where she works out.” Clarke replied as she looked at the girl.

“She works out at the same gym as Lincoln,” Octavia said, walking back into the room, “Arkadia, on Main Street.”

“Thank you.” Costia said with a small smile as she looked at Octavia.

“I’ll meet you downstairs…” Bellamy said, causing Costia to nod a little before she left the apartment, Bellamy looked at the two girls, “okay, what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Clarke said as she stood up, “I’m going back to bed, I’m tired.”

Bellamy and Octavia stood and watched as Clarke walked to her room and shut the door.

“They had an argument.” Octavia said, causing Bellamy to look at her, “Clarke and Lexa. Things are a little tense right now.”

“Anything I should know?” Bellamy asked.

“Nothing that I can tell you that won’t get you or other people into trouble, no.” Octavia replied.

Bellamy knew better than to push anything, so he just nodded a little before leaving. Octavia got her phone out and sent Lincoln a text telling him that the cops were on the way to the gym, and telling him to give Lexa a heads up that they wanted to speak to her.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was in the boxing ring with Lincoln when the gym owner called her name, turning around she saw Costia and Bellamy standing by the door. She grabbed the towel from the ropes and climbed out of the ring, taking the strapping off her hands as she went.

“Something I can do for you?” she asked.

“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Costia asked.

Lexa looked at Frank, the owner of the gym.

“You can use the office.” He said.

“Thanks.” Lexa replied with a small smile as she walked to the office, followed by Bellamy and Costia.

“You are a hard woman to track down,” Costia said as Bellamy closed the office door, “Anya didn’t know where you were, Clarke didn’t know either.”

“You talked to Clarke?” Lexa asked, Costia nodding a little, “Why?”

“Because we needed to talk to you, and as Anya didn’t know where you were, we assumed Clarke would.” Costia replied, “but she said she didn’t, suggested you might be here though.”

“What did you want to talk to me about?” the brunette asked.

“The dock worker found dead last night.” Costia said, “we’ve arrested 3 people in connection to it…”

“Saw something about that this morning on the news,” Lexa said, “Azgeda, right?”

“Yes,” Costia replied, “we have them on the drug charges, they were all found in possession of heroin, initial tests show it’s the same mix of drugs that has been causing deaths over recent days.”

“I thought you said the guys selling that mix were linked to Carl Emerson, not Azgeda.” Lexa said.

“They have the gang tattoos of the Azgeda,” Bellamy said, “and they were pretty vocal about it when they were picked up.”

Lexa clenched her jaw and nodded a little, she would have to talk to Roan about that later.

“They openly admit to the drugs charges, but not the murder.” Costia said.

“Well the murder charge would carry more jail time, they’re not exactly just going to admit to it are they.” Lexa replied, “wouldn’t make any sense.”

“They also said that they were nowhere near the docks last night,” Bellamy said, “something about another group being down there, getting caught up with some of your people.”

“Where were you last night Lexa?” Costia asked.

“What time?” Lexa asked in reply.

“Between midnight and 1:30.” Costia said.

“Luna’s till about 1:15,” Lexa replied, “then I got a call about something and had to go to the Griffin clinic, got there about 1:30 I think.”

“So you weren’t at the docks?” Bellamy asked.

“Not last night.” Lexa lied.

“And Luna will be able to confirm you were there last night?” Costia asked.

“Probably.” Lexa replied.

“Okay,” Costia said with a nod, “we’ll be in touch if we need anything else.”

“You have my number,” Lexa said to Bellamy, “you know where I live, don’t go to Clarke next time.”

“Where else was I going to think you were Lexa, you two have been pretty much inseparable for the last couple of months.” He replied.

“Yeah, well, now we’re not, so don’t drag her into my business, okay.” Lexa said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Later that day, Lexa was sitting with Anya and Lincoln in Luna’s bar when the door opened and Roan walked in followed by a few big guys, Ontari following not far behind. Roan walked towards Lexa’s table, Ontari and the others going to a nearby empty table.

“You wanted to talk to me.” Roan said, looking at Lexa.

“She got you on a short leash or something?” Lexa asked, her eyes flicking over to where Ontari was sitting.

When Roan didn’t reply, Lexa leant back in her chair and shook her head a little.

“Start talking, Roan.” She said.

“You remember yesterday when I said I had a few issues,” he replied, “well she is the cause of all of them, but I’m dealing with it…”

“Looks like it.” Anya said.

“The cops arrested 3 of your people this morning,” Lexa said, ignoring what Anya said, “for selling the drugs that have been killing people. Now I was lead to believe that it was Emerson’s people selling the drugs, so explain to me how your people got caught up in it.”

Lexa felt movement next to her, she didn’t need to look to see who it was.

“That’s Azgeda business, not yours.” Ontari said leaning on the table next to where Lexa was sitting.

“You want to move out of my personal space before I make you.” Lexa replied, her jaw clenched and her eyes still fixed on Roan rather than the girl next to her.

“Nervous, Lexa?” Ontari asked, a smirk on her lips.

“Ontari.” Roan said, motioning with his head for her to move.

As Ontari stepped back, Lexa looked at Anya and Lincoln, both of them standing up, she followed not far behind them.

“Control your bitch, Roan,” Lexa said as she stepped away from the table, “or I will put her down.”

“You really should be more careful, throwing threats like that around, Lexa.” Ontari said, stepping closer to the other girl.

“That wasn’t a threat,” Lexa replied, her jaw clenched as she looked at the girl, “it was a promise.”

One of the Azgeda members that was standing near Ontari grabbed hold of her before she could get closer to Lexa.

“You might be used to things going a certain way,” Lexa said, her eyes still fixed on the girl, “but things have changed. Your aunt isn’t in charge around here anymore, I am. You’ll do well to remember that.”

Ontari looked at Roan, expecting him to say something, when he didn’t say anything she pulled herself away from the guy that was holding her and walked out of the bar. Lexa looked at the Azgeda members who were standing up, each of them sat back down at the nearby table. Anya and Lincoln sat back down as well.

“Like I said,” Lexa said, sitting back down, “control her or I will put her down.”

“Understood.” Roan replied, “the guys that got arrested were lower level, a few that she had on side who worked with Emerson. I know nothing about the murder of the dock worker though, no one is admitting to that.”

“I wouldn’t expect them to.” Lexa said as Luna brought over more drinks.

“Keep your shit out of my bar, Lexa.” Luna said, putting the drinks on the table.

Lexa didn’t say anything, she just sat in silence until Luna walked away again.

“You’re going to let her talk to you like that?” Roan asked.

“She’s the only person that can.” Lexa replied with a small laugh.

“Does our agreement still stand?” Roan asked.

“For now.” Lexa said, “I would suggest that you keep a closer eye on what your people are doing though, I won’t stand for this city being flooded with drugs that are going to kill people. And keep your people away from my section of the docks.”

Roan nodded a little and Lexa stood up, downing the drink that Luna had put in front of her earlier.

“I’ll go and settle the tab.” She said, looking at Anya and Lincoln, before she made her way over to the bar.

“Next time you’re expecting me to lie for you, give me a bit of warning first.” Luna said as Lexa walked over to the bar.

“What did you tell them?” Lexa asked, handing over the money for the drinks.

“Told them you were here from just before midnight before you left to go and see Clarke.” Luna replied, taking the cash and ringing up the tab.

“Thanks.” Lexa said with a small smile as Luna handed her the change.

“No problem.” Luna replied, “I meant what I said though, keep your shit out of my bar.”

“I honestly wasn’t expecting her to be here.” Lexa said, “If I’d have known she’d be coming with him, I wouldn’t have come.”

“She’s going to make her move against him soon,” Luna said, leaning a little closer to Lexa, “I’ve heard a few people talking about it. She’s going to try and pin it on you, if I find out anything else, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, Luna.” Lexa said.

“What’s family for…” Luna said with a small smile before she walked off to serve someone else.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As Anya, Lincoln and Lexa walked out of the bar and towards the car, Ontari stepped out of the alleyway.

“Hey.” She said, causing Lexa to stop walking and turn to look at her, “you and me need to talk.”

“What do we need to talk about?” Lexa asked, seeing four big guys step out of the alleyway behind Ontari.

Lincoln banged his hand on top of the car, the back doors opened and Nyko and Ryder got out.

“You really want to do this now?” Lexa said, looking at Ontari.

“You need to stop interfering in Azgeda business.” Ontari said, stepping closer to Lexa.

“Like I said in the bar,” Lexa said, quickly grabbing hold of the girl and pushing her into the wall near the bar, “things have changed around here.”

“Don’t just stand there…” Ontari said to the guys she had with her.

“Back off.” Lexa said to them, they all lifted their hands a little and stepped backwards, away from the two girls.

Lexa heard sirens approaching them. She looked at Anya, Lincoln, Nyko and Ryder.

“Get in the car.” She said, before looking back at Ontari, “lucky you… keep your people out of my business, or I’ll come for you, got it.”

Ontari didn’t say anything, she looked away from Lexa. Lexa laughed a little before stepping back from Ontari and walking towards the car.

“This isn’t over, Lexa.” Ontari said.

“I’m right here.” Lexa replied, stopping and turning around so she was facing the girl again.

A police car pulled up next to the bar, two uniformed officers getting out.

“Is there a problem here?” one of the officers said, looking at Lexa.

“No problem at all.” Lexa replied with a small smirk, before she turned and got in her car.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

A few hours later Lexa was sitting in her apartment with Raven, Bellamy, Lincoln and Anya where there was a knock at the door. Lincoln answered it.

“We’re looking for Lexa Woods.” A police officer said as Lincoln opened the door.

“Lex…” Lincoln said, looking at Lexa from the doorway.

Lexa stood up and walked over to the door.

“What can I do for you officer?” Lexa asked.

“Can you step outside please.” The officer replied.

Bellamy walked up behind Lexa.

“What’s going on?” he asked, flashing his badge.

“Can you step outside please, Miss Woods.” The officer repeated.

Lexa sighed and stepped outside the apartment, she knew what was about to happen.

“Place your hands behind your back.” The officer said.

“What the hell is going on?” Bellamy asked.

“Miss Woods is under arrest.” The officer said as he placed handcuffs on Lexa’s wrists.

“Can I ask what for?” Lexa asked, turning her head and looking at him.

“Assault with a deadly weapon.” The officer replied.

Bellamy went back into the apartment as the police officer read Lexa her rights. Once he had got his phone he walked back out of the apartment again.

“Call Marcus.” Lexa said to him, he nodded a little.

“Who did she assault?” Anya asked, expecting the answer to be Roan.

“Ontari Queen,” the officer replied, “she was transferred from the Griffin clinic to the hospital earlier tonight after being left outside.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sitting in a jail cell waiting to be interviewed when the door of the cell opened and Marcus walked in.

“If it wasn’t for Clarke, Ontari would be dead.” Marcus said as the door closed behind him.

“I didn’t do it.” Lexa replied, looking up at him from where she was sat on the small bed.

“There are witnesses from Luna’s bar who heard you say, and I quote, ‘control your bitch, Roan, or I will put her down’.” Marcus said.

“Okay, I understand that it looks bad,” Lexa with a sigh, “and everyone knows there’s no love lost between us, but I didn’t lay a hand on her.”

“So you didn’t have her pinned to the wall outside Luna’s bar?” Marcus asked.

“Well, okay, I did that…” Lexa replied, running her hand through her hair, “but answer me this, how could I assault her and not have a mark on me? I mean come on, she would fight back.”

“They have two people who say they witnessed the assault,” Marcus said, “I need something to work with here… tell me where you were between 7 and 9 this evening.”

“I was at home,” Lexa replied, “with Anya, Lincoln, Raven and Bellamy.”

“And you didn’t leave?” Marcus asked.

“No,” Lexa said, “I didn’t leave.”

“And you didn’t have someone drive her to the Griffin clinic?” he asked.

“Marcus,” Lexa said, standing up, “the last time I hurt someone to the point they needed treatment they were taken to the hospital, not the clinic. I didn’t do this…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Carl Emerson was walking back to his apartment when he was grabbed from behind and pulled into a dark alleyway, where he was thrown up against the wall.

“I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to answer it.” Anya said, pacing in front of Emerson who was being held against the wall by Lincoln, Ryder standing not too far away.

“What question.” Emerson said.

“Who attacked Ontari Queen?” Anya asked.

“Lexa Woods.” Emerson replied.

Lincoln didn’t wait for Anya to say anything before punching Emerson in the face, the mans head snapping to one side before he spat the blood from his mouth.

“Let’s try that again,” Anya said as Emerson looked at her again, “who?”

Emerson didn’t say anything, he just smirked at Anya.

“We can do this all night.” Anya said, nodding to Lincoln, who brought his leg up and kneed Emerson in the stomach, causing him to double over.

“I did…” Emerson said, spitting more blood out of his mouth.

“You have two kids, right?” Anya asked, stepping closer to him.

Emerson didn’t say anything, he just looked at her.

“It would be a real shame for those kids to grow up without a father,” Anya continued, “I want the truth this time, who attacked Ontari Queen…”

“I already told you…” he said.

“I don’t believe you,” Anya said, interrupting him, “I want the names of the people who did it.”

When he didn’t answer her Anya looked at Nyko, who rolled his sleeves up.

“Okay,” Emerson said, his eyes widening as he looked at Nyko before looking back at Anya, “okay… no one attacked her, she threw herself down the stairs…”

“Why?” Anya asked.

“So she could frame Lexa,” Emerson replied, “make people think Lexa did it.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Raven and Bellamy were both at the police station, giving a witness statement about where Lexa had been earlier that evening. Lexa herself was in the interview room with Costia and another detective, with Marcus sitting next to her.

“You don’t deny that earlier this evening you referred to Miss Queen as a bitch and threatened to put her down?” Costia asked.

“Rabid dogs are put down as a matter of course in this city aren’t they?” Lexa asked in reply, a small smirk on her lips.

“Answer the question, Miss Woods.” Costia said, having to look down at the table to hide the small smile that was on her own lips.

“I don’t deny saying it, no,” Lexa replied, “a bar full of people probably heard me saying it. But just because I said that, does not mean that I nearly killed her.”

“We have two witnesses who say they were present at the time of the assault.” The other detective said.

“And I have four people, including a police detective, who can tell you that I was at home at the time of the assault.” Lexa replied.

“Why would Miss Queen implicate you if you were not involved?” the detective asked.

Lexa looked at Marcus, indicating for him to answer the question.

“A little over 4 years ago, Miss Queen was jailed for possession of a firearm,” Marcus said, “she believed that my client was to blame for the events which lead to her being arrested. In the four years that she was in jail, her dislike for my client was noted by prison officers and prison doctors.”

The door to the interview room opened and the police chief walked in.

“This interview is over,” he said, looking at the two detectives before he looked at Lexa, “you’re free to go, Miss Woods.”

“Not that I’m complaining,” Lexa said as she stood up, “but why the change of heart?”

“Miss Queen just told one of the officers at the hospital that she injured herself.” The police chief replied.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Anya walked out of the hospital and got in the waiting car.

“Is it done?” Lincoln asked, looking at her.

“Yeah,” Anya said with a nod, “I told her that Emerson sold her out, she told the officer she did it herself.”

“Let’s go home.” Lincoln said with a small smile as he started the car.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Marcus dropped Lexa back at her apartment, as she got out of the car she saw Clarke sitting on the steps outside the building.

“Did you do it?” Clarke asked as Lexa walked towards the steps.

“No.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little as she stopped on the bottom step.

“She was a mess, Lexa, she nearly died on my table…” Clarke said, not looking up at the brunette.

“She threw herself down the stairs,” Lexa said, with a sigh as she sat on the bottom step, “we had a minor confrontation earlier at Luna’s and she obviously decided that she was going to try and frame me for this… but I didn’t do it, Clarke.”

“But you did kill the dock worker.” Clarke said.

Lexa stood up and turned to look at the blonde.

“I’m not having this conversation here,” she said, “if you want to talk about, you’re welcome to come in.”

“I don’t know you anymore, Lexa,” Clarke said as she looked at her, “I’m starting to wonder if I ever did.”

“You asked me not to keep anything from you,” Lexa said, “and I haven’t. I haven’t tried to hide who I am from you, Clarke…”

“I have to get back to work…” Clarke said, standing up.

“Clarke…” Lexa said as the blonde moved to walk past her, “please don’t do this…”

“You killed a man last night, Lexa,” Clarke said, stepping closer to the brunette, “does not even register in your head?”

“I did what I had to do.” Lexa replied.

“You came into the clinic covered in blood,” Clarke said, “I was terrified for that split second until you told me it wasn’t yours…”

“Clarke…” Lexa said.

“No,” Clarke said, shaking her head a little as she stepped back from the brunette, “you need to understand, I went from being terrified because I thought that blood was yours, to being terrified because it wasn’t. Because you took a man’s life and that doesn’t seem to bother you at all.”

Lexa didn’t reply, she wasn’t sure what to say.

“Did you even consider the fact that he might have a family?” Clarke asked, “that he might have kids that were waiting for him to get home?”

“Two of the guys that were with me down on the docks last night have kids,” Lexa replied, “and because of the information he gave me there was a chance they wouldn’t go home.”

Clarke backed away a little more.

“Because of the information that he gave me, information that he knew was wrong,” Lexa continued, her voice getting a little louder as she felt herself start to get angry, “my people were put in danger, people that look to me to know what’s happening. I put them in danger because I trusted what he told me.”

“That gives you the right to kill him?” Clarke asked.

“He was on my payroll, Clarke,” Lexa said, “he was supposed to work for me. Yet for the last week he’s been helping to import shit quality drugs that have killed people. The youngest of those that died was 17.”

The blonde remained quiet.

“Do you think he thought about what he was doing?” Lexa asked, “When he was getting his cut of that money, do you think he even considered for a minute what kind of damage he was doing to people’s lives?”

“He was a human being, Lexa.” Clarke said.

“He was a man who made the wrong choice,” Lexa replied, “more than once. If it comes down to some guy who sets me up and one of my people, I’m going to choose my people every time. You save people, Clarke, it’s what you do. But the world I live in isn’t as black and white as that. If I have to choose to end a life to save another, I’ll do it. If I have to kill someone to make my people safer, I’ll do it. I don’t like it, in fact I fucking hate it, but it’s part of who I am.”

At that moment Anya and Lincoln arrived back. Clarke looked at the car before she looked back at Lexa, seeing more emotion than she ever thought possible in the brunette’s eyes.

“Hey Clarke.” Anya said with a small smile as she walked towards the steps, “you coming in?”

Clarke noticed the blood on Lincoln’s hands.

“What did you do?” she asked, gripping Lincoln’s hand and looking at his knuckles.

“My hand had a disagreement with someone’s head.” Lincoln said with a shrug.

“We need to get this cleaned up,” the blonde said with a sigh, “come on.”

Lexa stood and watched as Anya, Lincoln and Clarke walked into the building. Clarke stopped at the door and turned back to look at Lexa.

“Are you coming?” Clarke asked.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“We need to talk about what we’re going to do with Ontari.” Anya said, looking at Lexa.

Clarke was sitting on the sofa next to Lincoln, cleaning the blood from his knuckles.

“I don’t need to hear this…” Bellamy said, shaking his head a little as he walked into the kitchen.

“We do nothing.” Lexa said, standing and looking out of the window.

“She tried to set you up for assaulting her, Lex.” Anya said, “we can’t just do nothing.”

“What do you want me to do, Anya?” Lexa asked, turning to look at her cousin, “kill her?”

Anya didn’t say anything; Lexa already knew what the answer was.

“She’s Roan’s problem,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “he can deal with her.”

A knock at the door stopped everyone talking. Lexa answered it. The Azgeda guy handed her an envelope and walked away, quickly.

“Who was it?” Anya asked.

“Azgeda…” Lexa replied, walking back into the living room, looking at the envelope in her hands.

She opened it, taking out a polaroid photograph, it was a picture of Tris tied to a chair with the words ‘Your move’ written underneath it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger from hell. Lexa's going to have some tough choices to make in the next part. Until next time ;)


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Figured you all would want an update, so here it is. There's only another few parts of this one to go, there may be a follow-up story though, we'll have to see how it ends.

 

Everyone stood and watched as Lexa’s hands started to shake as she looked at the polaroid in her hand.

“Lexa…” Anya said, “what is it?”

“Someone call Luna.” Lexa replied.

“Lexa, what’s going on?” Anya asked.

Lexa dropped the polaroid down on the table, so they could all see it, before she turned and walked towards her room.

“Someone is going to die tonight.” She said, walking into her room.

Clarke got her phone out and dialled Luna’s number, it rang and rang.

“No answer…” the blonde said, as Bellamy walked back in from the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” he asked, seeing Anya pacing around talking on her phone.

“They’ve got Tris.” Lincoln said, motioning to the polaroid.

Bellamy grabbed his phone, dialling a number as he walked back into the kitchen, Clarke again tried calling Luna. This time it didn’t ring long before someone answered.

“Hello?” came the female voice.

“Octavia?” Clarke asked, “why do you have Luna’s phone?”

“She just got dropped outside,” Octavia replied, “what’s going on Clarke?”

“Someone’s taken Tris…” Clarke said, “how’s Luna?”

“Beaten to hell,” Octavia said, “your mom is working on her.”

“Okay,” Clarke replied, “let me know how it turns out.”

“Will do.” Octavia said, “and Clarke… stay safe.”

“You too.” Clarke replied, before she hung up the phone, “Luna’s at the clinic, she was just dropped outside, my mom’s working on her.”

Lexa walked back out of her room, Clarke could see at least 3 blades on her, and even a gun in the waistband of her jeans, Lexa never carried a gun.

“Well?” she asked, looking around the group.

“Luna’s at the clinic, my mom is working on her…” Clarke said, “Octavia said she’s beaten to hell…”

Bellamy walked out of the kitchen and saw Lexa.

“You need to calm down.” He said, walking over to her.

“You need to tell your officers to stay out of my way.” Lexa replied coldly, “I’m going to find her, even if I have to tear this fucking city apart.”

“Lexa,” Bellamy said, “I’ve already called the chief, we have all available units out there looking for her, and whoever took her. We’ll find them.”

“Not if I find them first.” Lexa said, before she looked at Anya, “ready?”

“Nyko and Ryder said they’ll be here in 5 minutes,” Anya said with a nod, “Tristan is on his way, the others will meet us at the warehouse.”

“The warehouse?” Bellamy asked.

“Please stay out of this,” Lexa said looking at him, “you’re my friend, Bellamy, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“What can we do?” Raven asked, standing next to Clarke.

“Go to the clinic,” Lexa replied, “I want someone with Luna, just in case.”

Raven nodded and put her jacket on, everyone else moved towards the front door. Lexa picked up the polaroid, looking at it again before she put it the inside pocket of her jacket, and started walking towards the door.

“Lexa…” Clarke said, softly taking hold of the brunette’s wrist, causing her to stop, “come back to me…”

Lexa clenched her jaw, gently cupping Clarke’s face with her hands as she softly placed a kiss on Clarke’s forehead.

“I love you.” She said.

With that Lexa turned and walked from the apartment, Lincoln and Anya following her out.

“Where’s this warehouse?” Bellamy asked, looking at Raven.

“No idea.” Raven said with a shrug, “sorry.”

“Raven,” he said, “if you know anything, you need to tell me.”

“No, I don’t.” Raven replied, “Take Lexa’s advice, Bell, stay out of it.”

“This is going to be bad, Raven,” Bellamy said, “people are going to die.”

“Tris is family,” Raven said, “you don’t take family.”

“Clarke…” Bellamy said, looking at the blonde.

“I don’t know where it is…” she said, shaking her head a little.

“Lexa could get hurt, or worse,” Bellamy said, walking over to the blonde, putting his hands on her shoulders, “you have to help me, Clarke.”

The blonde shook her head and stepped away from him, walking over to Raven.

“Ready?” Raven asked.

Clarke nodded and the two of them left the apartment, Bellamy following close behind, closing the door after himself.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

When Clarke and Raven arrived at the clinic there were two police officers already there. Clarke flashed her ID badge as one tried to stop her.

“I’m with her.” Raven said, following Clarke into the largest exam room, where they assumed Abby would be with Luna.

“How is she?” Clarke asked, taking her jacket off as she walked in the room.

“She’s going to be okay,” Abby said with a nod, “she’s got a few broken ribs, her cheekbone is cracked, she has a broken leg and a fractured wrist, but she’s going to be okay. What’s going on?”

“Someone took her daughter to get to Lexa.” Clarke said, walking over to the bed.

“Call in all the emergency help we have,” Abby said, looking at one of the nurses, “something tells me we’re going to need it.”

The nurse rushed from the room, to call in every doctor and nurse they had on the emergency help list.

Luna opened her eyes, well as much as she could, and looked at Clarke.

“Clarke…” she said.

“Hey,” Clarke said with a small pained smile, “it’s going to be okay.”

“They…” Luna said.

“I know,” Clarke said with a nod, “Lexa’s going to get her back.”

Luna nodded a little and closed her eyes again.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As Lexa arrived at the warehouse she saw that everybody was there, literally everyone that was part of the gang, part of the family.

“Okay,” she said, walking over to the table that was in the centre of the main space, “I’m guessing you all know why we’re here. Someone connected to the Azgeda has Tris, this isn’t about gangs anymore, this isn’t about territory, this is personal.”

She looked around the room to find everyone nodding in agreement.

“Indra, Echo,” she said looking at the two women, “I need you to go to the Griffin clinic. We have people there…”

“Is Clarke there?” Indra asked, Lexa nodded a little, “we’ll make sure they’re okay.”

“The rest of you, I want you split up into your usual teams,” Lexa said, looking around at everyone again, “I want you to hit up every source you have, every addict you deal with, every businessman that owes me. I want her found.”

People started to leave the warehouse, all going in their groups.

“Emori,” Lexa said, “I want your group to go to the hospital, if that bitch knows anything, I want to know.”

Emori nodded before she left, three guys following behind her.

“Lincoln, Anya, Nyko, Tristan, Ryder,” Lexa said, looking at them, “you’re with me.”

“Where are we going?” Anya asked.

“We’re going to pay Roan a visit.” Lexa replied.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

The black truck pulled up outside the bar that Lexa knew was the meeting place for Azgeda, as soon as they parked up and got out the two guys on the door stepped closer to each other, blocking the door.

“Is he here?” Lexa asked.

The two men looked at each other before looking back at Lexa.

“If you want to make it home tonight you’ll move out of my way.” She said.

They both stepped aside and let her in, the others following behind her. Lexa made her way towards the back of the bar, every single person in the place stopping what they were doing and looking at her. Anya couldn’t help but smirk a little at the tension now in the place, Lexa was on a mission and each and every one of them knew it. As they reached the table at the back two more men moved to stand in front of Lexa.

“I’ll hurt you if I have to.” She said, having to look up a little to look into the eyes of both the men, neither of them moved.

“It’s okay,” Roan said, “Step aside.”

The two men did as they were told and Lexa stepped up to the table.

“Where is she?” Lexa asked.

“Who?” Roan asked in reply, “if you’re talking about Ontari, as far as I know she’s still in the hospital.”

“Don’t fuck around with me, Roan,” Lexa said, taking the polaroid out of her pocket and sliding it across the table to him, “where is she?”

He picked the polaroid up and looked at it, his face visibly paling as he saw the image.

“Is this…” he started to say.

“Luna’s daughter,” Lexa said with a nod, “yeah, now I want to know where she is, and I want to know now.”

“I don’t know.” He replied.

Lexa took one of her blades out and stabbed it into the table. Letting Roan know, in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t messing around.

“Don’t make me do this the hard way.” She said.

“Lexa, if I knew where she was, I would tell you.” he said.

“Then you find out, because it was one of your people who delivered that to me.” Lexa replied.

“Wait here.” He said.

Lexa stood and watched as Roan walked over to the bar, quietly saying something to one of the guys who was standing there. After a few words were exchanged he motioned with his head to the corner of the bar, where the guy who had delivered the envelope to Lexa was currently sitting. Lexa wasted no time walking over to the guy and jamming her blade through his hand and into the table. A commotion started behind her, Roan shouting at everyone to stay out of it.

“Who gave you the envelope?” Lexa asked, leaning towards the guy.

The guys eyes were wide as he looked down at his hand before looking up at Lexa.

“It’s a simple question.” Lexa said, “who gave you the envelope?”

“One of Emerson’s guys.” He said, “they trashed Luna’s bar, beat her up and took the kid.”

“Where did they take her?” Lexa asked.

“I don’t know.” He said, shaking his head a little, “they have a meeting place down in the factory district near the docks.”

“See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it.” Lexa said, pulling her knife from his hand, wiping the blood off on the mans own pants.

“What can I do?” Roan asked, walking over to Lexa as a couple of other guys went to help the man who was now bleeding all over the table.

“Get him some medical help before he goes into shock,” Lexa said, “and find me Emerson.”

Roan nodded a little.

“Oh, and Roan,” Lexa said, turning back to him as she walked towards the door, “any of your people get in my way, I will kill them.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Bellamy and Costia were sitting in Costia’s car across from the bar that Lexa had just walked out of. They had spotted the truck as it drove across the invisible barrier between the gang territories.

“We could just arrest her.” Bellamy said as he watched everyone get back into the truck.

“There’s two of us,” Costia replied, “there’s 6 of them, they’re all armed. This is personal for her, Bellamy, if we go to arrest her now she isn’t going to go quietly.”

“So, what?” Bellamy asked, “we’re just going to follow her around until she does something to mess up?”

“We know who she’s looking for,” Costia said as she started the car, “hopefully our guys find the kid before Lexa does.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

While Lincoln was driving Anya’s phone beeped, letting her know she had a text message. She looked at the phone before looking at Lexa.

“What?” Lexa asked.

“It’s from Emori, it says ‘unit 6 by the docks, they know you’re coming’.” Anya replied, reading the text.

“Get everyone back to the warehouse.” Lexa said before taking her own phone out of her pocket and calling Raven, “Raven, I need you to do something for me.”

“What do you need?” Raven asked in reply.

“I need the layout for a factory unit by the docks.” Lexa said, “can you get me it?”

“I’m going to need to get my hands on a laptop,” Raven said, “I have one in my garage.”

“Meet us at the warehouse asap?” Lexa asked.

“On my way.” Raven said.

“Oh and Raven,” Lexa said, before the other girl could hang up, “make sure Clarke stays at the clinic.”

Lexa hung up her phone, ignoring the looks from Anya.

“I need her out of the way.” Lexa said, looking out of the window as Lincoln drove them back to the warehouse, “I can’t have her there…”

“I didn’t say anything.” Anya replied.

“You didn’t have to.” Lexa said with a sigh.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Roan was sitting in the back office at the bar, he knew he had to do something. The whole gang was falling apart around him; he had thought that if he got his mother out of the way things would start going the way he wanted them to. He hadn’t counted on Ontari getting out of jail before he had a chance to stabilize the Azgeda. The door to the office opened and one of his men walked in, someone he trusted with his own life.

“Emerson and his gang are holed up at a factory unit by the docks,” the guy said, “unit 6.”

“Does Lexa know?” Roan asked.

“She had some of her people go to the hospital,” the guy replied, “so chances are she does.”

Roan nodded a little, a plan starting to form in his head.

“We could just wait it out,” the guy said, “let her go in there with her people, hope Emerson takes most of them out, then we don’t have to worry about Trikru anymore.”

“This isn’t about Trikru or Azgeda,” Roan said, shaking his head, “this is about a child. We do not harm children. Get a group together that you trust, wait for my word.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Raven had the laptop on the table in front of her, Lexa was pacing behind her.

“You’re not helping, you know.” Raven said, glancing behind her.

“How long is this going to take?” Lexa asked.

“It takes as long as it takes.” Indra said, resting her hand on Lexa’s shoulder, the younger girl nodding a little.

“Any word on Luna?” Lexa asked, looking at Indra.

“Abby said she’s going to be fine,” Indra replied, “a few broken bones, but those heal in time. Tristan is at the clinic with Echo.”

“Okay,” Raven said, “got it.”

Lexa walked up behind the girl, looking over her shoulder at the layout on the screen.

“So we have 5 possible entry routes,” Lexa said, pointing at the doors to the unit, “all of which will probably have people on them…”

“What if we go up?” Raven asked, glancing back at Lexa, “this here is a ladder up the outside of the building, there’s a door right here…”

Raven pointed at the screen.

“Fire escape…” Raven said, “pretty sure they wouldn’t think of that.”

“But going up the outside of the building means we’ll still have to go down the inside,” Lexa said, “this unit is empty, right?”

Raven nodded a little.

“According to this, it’s been empty for a few months.” She said.

“Okay,” Lexa said, “so if we have two people go up to the fire escape on the roof, the rest can cause a diversion ground level.”

“That could work,” Raven said with a nod, “if you can get me here…”

She pointed to the side of the building.

“That’s where the electrics are, I can take out the lights.” She said, “that’d cause enough of a diversion, get them disorientated.”

“That wouldn’t really work out well for us though,” Lexa said, “they can’t see, we can’t see…”

“You don’t have like night goggles or anything?” Raven asked, looking at Lexa.

“We’re a crime gang, not commandos.” Lexa replied with a smirk.

“You really should work on that.” Raven said.

“I’ll make a note of it.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little.

“Okay,” Raven said with a sigh, “so no killing the lights… you got smoke bombs?”

Lexa nodded a little.

“Cool.” Raven replied with a smile.

“Focus, Raven.” Lexa said, arching her eyebrow a little.

“Sorry,” Raven said, “right, so…”

“The two that go up can get a rough idea where everyone is,” Lexa said, looking over the layout again, “we could drop the smoke bombs from this ledge here…”

She ran her finger along the small walkway which ran along the upper level of the factory unit.

“That’d send everything on ground level into chaos…” Lexa said, “which would put Tris is more danger, I don’t know what weapons they have…”

“Can I make a suggestion?” Indra asked, causing Lexa to look at her.

“Of course.” Lexa replied with a nod.

“Send someone out to the unit, recon, let us know what we’re dealing with.” Indra said.

“We can do that.” Clarke said, walking into the room with Octavia.

“Clarke,” Lexa said, “you shouldn’t be here.”

“You really expect me to stay at the clinic not knowing what’s going on?” the blonde asked, “no, not happening.”

“Clarke…” Lexa said, walking over to the blonde, “I need to know you’re safe, I…”

“What do we need to do for this recon, Indra?” Clarke asked, looking at the older woman.

Indra looked at Lexa, who sighed and nodded a little.

“You need to go down to the unit, we’re going to need to know how many people are there, what weapons they have,” Indra said, moving to the back of the small room they were in and picking up a small briefcase, “take this, there’s a small two-way radio and some binoculars. Stay out of sight.”

“Okay.” Clarke said with a small nod.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa sat on the table, her feet on the chair that was in front of her, the other radio sitting next to her, her arms were resting on her knees as she looked around her.

“She’s going to be okay.” Anya said as she sat down on the table next to Lexa.

Lexa clenched her jaw and nodded a little.

“Lexa?” Clarke’s voice came over the radio next to her, “you there?”

“Yeah, Clarke,” she said, picking up the radio, everyone in the room looking at her, “I’m here…”

“We just got here,” Clarke said, “there’s a lot going on down here.”

“Tell me what you see.” Lexa replied.

“There’s 4 guys walking around the outside of the building,” the blonde said, “one on two of the main doors that we can see from here, there’s a side door that nobody is standing near…”

Lexa looked at Raven who had the plans up on the laptop, Raven pointed out where the car was and where the two doors were that Clarke was talking about. Lexa nodded a little.

“Okay,” Lexa said into the radio, “can you tell me what weapons the guys walking around the building are carrying?”

“Handguns,” the blonde said, “one has what looks like an automatic rifle, but I can’t really see it from here…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Across the road from the warehouse, Bellamy and Costia sat in the car, listening to the radio.

“How long till we can get that team to the factory unit?” Bellamy asked over his own radio.

“Chief said SWAT can be ready to go in a few minutes,” came the reply, “but he wants to know the kid is in there.”

“She’s in there…” Bellamy said.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Emerson was pacing back and forth.

“Will you sit down; you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.” Cage said, glancing up at him.

“Why isn’t she here,” Emerson said, looking at the other man, “she has to know we’re here. What if she doesn’t come for the kid?”

“She’ll come.” Cage said, looking over at Tris who was sitting in the corner of the small room, still tied to the chair.

“I don’t like this,” Emerson said, shaking his head, “I’m going to check the perimeter.”

“I’ll go.” Cage said, standing up, “you watch the kid.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Lexa,” Clarke said, “you know that cop that tried to arrest you with Bellamy…”

“Cage,” Lexa said with a nod, shaking her head when she remembered that Clarke couldn’t see her, “yes.”

“He’s here…” Clarke replied, “he just walked out of the side door.”

 “Why would Cage be there?” Raven asked, looking at Lexa.

“I killed his dad.” Lexa replied, shaking her head a little.

“Technically, I killed his dad.” Anya said with a shrug.

“His dad was involved with Nia in some way,” Lexa said, “Cage was working for Nia, he was in her pocket, makes sense that he’d be involved in this in some way…”

“He really hates you that much, huh?” Raven asked.

“He’s been trying to arrest me for years.” Lexa replied, “then when he thought he finally had me, he fucked up.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you'll be able to see, this is now set at a 26 chapter story, which means after this there'll be another two parts (one of which may be a flash forward chapter, depending how the next part works out). I hope you've all enjoyed reading it so far, all your comments have been great and it's nice to know so many people have been reading it.

 

Lexa knew the only way she was going to get into the factory unit was if she kept the group numbers to a minimum, but she also knew there was no way to get close enough to actually get into the building was if they took out some of the people who were hanging around outside the unit. Clarke had told her there were 10 people around the building, Lexa was going to need most of them out of the way before she could get into the building.

She’d told her people not to kill anyone, unless they had no choice. She knew that the police would be on the lookout for anything like that, as Bellamy had said they were out looking from Tris. If she got caught that was one thing, but she didn’t want any of her people getting arrested if she could help it.

As the vehicles they were using pulled up near the factory unit, Lexa turned to look at Anya who was sitting in the backseat with Lincoln.

“I want you two to get Clarke and Octavia out of there.” She said.

“Lex…” Anya said, “just tell them to leave, Lincoln and I will be more help to you in the building rather than babysitting.”

“I need you two to be as far away from this as possible,” Lexa replied, “if something happens to me, I need to know that everything is in safe hands.”

“Lexa.” Lincoln said.

“Please.” Lexa said, looking between the two of them, “the police aren’t going to be far away once this starts.”

“Okay.” Anya said with a nod, “okay.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa and Ryder had made their way up the ladder to the fire escape, from where they were on the walkway above the factory floor Lexa could see Tris tied to a chair in the middle of the large empty space. Cage was there, as were a few others. While they watched, Emerson rushed back in through the side door of the unit.

“She’s here.” He said, “all our people are down.”

“She killed them all?” Cage asked.

“No,” Emerson replied, shaking his head a little, “it’s a mess out there though.”

“Lexa,” Cage said, looking around the building, knowing she was in there somewhere, “why don’t we make this easy.”

He pulled a gun out of the waistband of his pants and pointed it at Tris.

“What do you want?” Lexa asked, standing up on the walkway and looking down at Cage and Emerson.

“You, Lexa,” he said, a nasty smile on his lips, “just you.”

“You’ll let her go?” Lexa asked.

“Sure.” He replied with a nod.

Emerson leant closer to Cage, saying something that Lexa couldn’t hear.

“I don’t like this…” Ryder said, “I don’t like this at all.”

“I’m going to need you to get her out of here.” Lexa said to Ryder.

“You can’t seriously be considering this, Lexa.” He said.

“What other choice do I have?” Lexa asked in reply.

“What’s it going to be, Lexa?” Cage asked.

“You let her go first.” Lexa said, “one of my people will come and get her, then I’ll come down there.”

“Deal.” Cage replied.

Lexa looked at Ryder and nodded a little, the man shook his head before he stood up and made his way over to the ladder which lead down to the unit floor. Lexa pulled her gun out and pointed it at Cage.

“He walks out with her, or you end up with a bullet in your head.” She said.

Cage held his hand up slightly so the gun was pointing at the roof of the factory unit as Ryder climbed down the ladder. Lexa kept her gun pointing at Cage as she watched Ryder walk over to where Tris was, untying her from the chair, Lexa’s eyes followed him as he walked out of the factory.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

As soon as Ryder left the unit with Tris, Anya and Lincoln rushed over to him from where they were sitting in Lexa’s truck with Clarke and Octavia.

“Where is she?” Anya asked as Ryder carried Tris towards the truck.

“She traded herself.” He replied as Clarke and Octavia got out of the back of the truck, giving Ryder space to lay Tris down on the backseat.

Clarke took off the blindfold and removed the gag from Tris’s mouth, the girl was unconscious but looked otherwise unharmed apart from the red marks on her wrists where she had been tied to the chair.

“We need to get her to the clinic.” Octavia said, “or the hospital, or somewhere…”

“Take her to the clinic.” Clarke said, looking towards Anya, “my mom will be able to help.”

“You’re coming with us.” Anya said.

“I’m staying here.” The blonde replied.

“Clarke…” Octavia said.

“Go.” Clarke said, causing Octavia to nod a little before she climbed back into the truck near Tris so she could keep an eye on the young girl as they were driven to the clinic.

“I’ll stay with her.” Ryder said, looking at the others.

“Lexa isn’t going to like this…” Anya said with a sigh.

“Well Lexa has no say in this right now.” Clarke replied, “just go, the sooner you get to the clinic, the sooner my mom can help Tris.”

Anya and Lincoln climbed into the truck and headed off towards the clinic, knowing that Lexa was probably going to kick their asses when all this was over. A car drove into the parking area just as the truck pulled out, Clarke recognised it.

“Azgeda…” Ryder said as the car parked up.

Roan and a few others got out of the car and walked over to where Clarke and Ryder were standing.

“What’s going on?” Roan asked, looking between the two.

“She got Tris out.” Ryder replied.

“Where’s Lexa?” Roan asked in reply.

“She’s still in there…” Clarke said, looking towards the unit.

“How many people are in there with her?” the Azgeda leader asked, causing the blonde to shrug.

“None of ours.” Ryder replied, “she’s in there on her own. There’s three of them in there, Cage, Emerson and someone I don’t know.”

Roan looked at two of his people.

“You two, up the ladder and in through the fire escape.” he said, causing them to nod before they headed off towards the ladder.

“Why are you helping?” Clarke asked.

“Because she helped me.” Roan replied, “I’m going to check around the side door.”

Clarke and Ryder both stood and watched as Roan headed off to the side door.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“If you’re going to kill me, why don’t you just get it over with.” Lexa said as she spat the blood from her mouth after Cage backhanded her while she was now tied to the chair where Tris had been sitting.

“Because that would be too easy.” Cage replied walking around where Lexa was sitting.

“You might want to get round to it before the cops get here.” Lexa said, her eyes narrowed a little as she looked at Emerson.

“The cops have no idea where we are.” Emerson said.

“Of course they don’t.” she replied, a smirk tugging at her lips.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

While Ryder was keeping an eye out for the police, Clarke reached inside her jacket and felt the cold hard butt of the gun she had found in the car which she and Octavia had been sitting in outside the factory unit. She’d never fired a gun in her life, she felt her palms starting to sweat a little as she walked towards the door of the unit. Clarke had absolutely no idea about what she was going to do when she opened the door. She had gone to medical school to help people, to save people, now she was contemplating taking a life.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“There is one thing I want to know.” Lexa said, her eyes flicking to Cage, “Why are you doing this? What drove you to kidnap a child?”

“You killed my father.” Cage replied.

“Well, technically, I didn’t, actually.” Lexa said.

“You think you’re so smart don’t you,” he said, “you think you’ve planned for everything, got everything worked out. Well you didn’t plan for this.”

“I’m not sure you can plan for assholes doing stupid things,” Lexa replied, “it’s the kind of thing that you can never really take into account. It’s not like I wake up in a morning and think ‘I wonder what assholes will be doing today’.”

“Once you’re out of the way, this city is going to change,” Cage said, “the first thing I’m going to do it get rid of everyone you care about.”

“We could start with the pretty blonde doctor.” Emerson said, looking at Cage.

“I don’t think I’ll get rid of her,” Cage said with a smirk as he looked at Lexa, “I actually have plans for her.”

Lexa clenched her jaw as Cage got in her face.

“I’ll have her screaming out my name by the end of the week.” Cage said.

Lexa knew that he was trying to get a reaction from her, so she just sat there looking at him.

“What’s she like in bed, Lexa?” Cage asked, “I bet she’s a screamer, right?”

Again, Lexa didn’t say anything, knowing that her not reacting would irritate him more than anything else.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Roan quietly slipped in through the side door of the factory unit, seeing Cage and Emerson standing near Lexa, the brunette securely tied to the chair. Ryder had told him there were three other people in the unit, he could only see the two of them. He looked up to the walkway and saw the two guys he had sent up there, near where they were crouched down he saw someone lying on the metal walkway and assumed that it was the third person who had been there.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“I doubt you’d make her scream, Cage,” Lexa said, finally reacting, “especially not in the bedroom, I doubt you’ve got much to scream about.”

Emerson laughed at what Lexa said, which obviously pissed Cage off. After he again hit Lexa across the face he turned to Emerson and looked like he was going to hit him as well.

While Lexa was spitting more blood from her mouth she spotted Roan, the man putting his finger to his lips before motioning up towards the walkway. As she looked up and saw the other two men, Lexa started to think that maybe she would walk away from this.

“You really think you’re going to be able to walk out of here if you kill me?” Lexa asked, causing Cage to look at her again.

“Of course I’m going to walk out of here,” Cage replied, circling Lexa again, “nobody is going to care what happens to you. They’ll just pick up and carry on.”

“You obviously don’t know what it’s like to have a family,” Lexa said, “people who actually care. I mean, from what I understand, your father couldn’t even stand to be around you. I bet you were a total disappointment to him, couldn’t even arrest someone properly.”

“You’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.” Cage said, getting angry.

“Oh really,” Lexa said, “I pretty much ran circles around you, every time you tried to arrest me, you failed.”

As Cage raised his hand to hit Lexa again, the main door of the unit opened and Clarke walked in, gun held up in front of her.

“Step away from her or I will shoot you.” Clarke said.

While Cage turned to look at Clarke, Lexa snapped her head round and looked at Roan, the look on his face let her know that he was as surprised by this as she was.

“If it isn’t the pretty blonde doctor.” Cage said, before he turned and walked behind Lexa, “look, Lexa, I don’t even have to hunt her down.”

“You leave her alone you piece of shit…” Lexa muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Cage said, gripping the back of Lexa’s neck, “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I said…” Lexa started to say, a gunshot ringing out stopped her talking, her eyes widening as she saw Emerson fall to the floor, before she looked at Clarke who was standing there in total shock at what she’d just done.

Cage stepped around Lexa, his gun starting to lift up as he faced Clarke.

“Roan…” Lexa said, looking over at the man to find his gun already pointed at the other man.

Before Cage could aim properly at the blonde, Roan pulled the trigger of his gun, the bullet hitting Cage in the head, dropping him to the floor instantly. Roan put his own gun back in the waistband of his jeans before he walked over to where Clarke was standing, the gun she was holding still pointing where she had fired it.

“Give me the gun, Clarke.” He said, his hands going over hers where she held the gun, the blonde quickly letting go of the weapon.

A few seconds later all the doors of the unit opened and police officers spilled in.

“Hands in the air, now.” One of the officers said, looking at Roan, who was still holding the gun he had just taken off Clarke.

At that moment something clicked in Clarke’s head and she started to move forward towards where Lexa was still sitting bleeding in the chair.

“Don’t move.” Another officer said to Clarke.

“I’m a doctor,” Clarke said, looking at him before she looked back at Lexa, “she needs help.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke never thought that she would ever see the inside of a jail cell, yet there she was, sitting on the small cot, Lexa’s blood still covering her hands. The cell door opened and Bellamy and Costia walked in, the girl carrying a towel and some hand wash that Clarke could use.

“Thought you could use this.” Costia said with a soft smile, holding the items out to the blonde.

Clarke nodded a little before she stood up and walked the short distance to the pair, taking the hand wash from Costia before turning to use the small sink which was in the cell.

“Can you tell me what happened, Clarke?” Bellamy asked.

The blonde didn’t say anything as she watched the blood run from her hands.

“Clarke,” Bellamy said, “three people inside that unit are dead, we need to know what happened.”

“Two got shot,” Clarke said, not looking at him, “not sure what happened to the third one.”

“Who shot them?” Bellamy asked.

“Shouldn’t I have a lawyer before you ask me questions?” the blonde asked in reply as she finally looked at him, “I mean, isn’t that the way this is supposed to go?”

“Do you need a lawyer?” Bellamy said, “do you have something to hide?”

“I think I probably should have a lawyer.” Clarke said, looking back at her hands.

“Clarke,” Bellamy said, “unless you’ve done something wrong, you don’t need a lawyer.”

The blonde didn’t say anything as she dried her hands and walked back to sit on the cot.

“Talk to me, Clarke…” he said.

“Bellamy,” Costia said, “she’s asked for a lawyer, she doesn’t have to say anything to you. Do you have a lawyer, or do you need a state appointed lawyer?”

“Can you call Marcus Kane?” Clarke asked, looking at Costia.

“He’s already in the building,” Costia replied, “I’ll tell him you want to speak to him.”

“Thanks.” Clarke said with a small nod.

After the two left the room it wasn’t much later before the cell door opened again and Marcus walked in.

“You asked to see me.” He said as the cell door was closed behind him.

“I think I might need a lawyer…” Clarke said.

“Before you say anything else,” Marcus said, walking over to the small cot and sitting down, “I should probably tell you that Roan Queen has been arrested, he has already told the police that he is the one who pulled the trigger.”

“But…” Clarke started to say.

“He was found with the gun, Clarke,” Marcus said, interrupting her, “his prints will be found on it.”

“So will mine…” the blonde said quietly.

“If the police decide to arrest you, which they haven’t as yet, I can represent you.” Marcus said, “if that’s what you want.”

Clarke nodded a little before she looked at him.

“How’s Lexa?” she asked.

“She’s okay,” Marcus replied, with a soft smile, “she’s refusing to talk, as usual, but she’s okay.”

“Any word on Tris?” the blonde asked in reply.

“Your mother told me that she’s awake, and other than some light bruising on her wrists, she’s going to be just fine.” He said.

“Good.” Clarke said with a nod.

The cell door opened again and Costia walked in.

“They’re arresting Lexa.” She said, looking at Marcus.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I'm sorry for the delay, I needed to get in the right mental space to write this. My English-ness kind of shows through in this part, oddly enough. Anyway, hope you all enjoy it. We're nearly at the end.

**_4 months later…_ **

****

Lexa had seen the inside of court rooms many times, she’d rarely been the one on trial though, usually she was there to keep up to date on proceedings to see how it affected the gang. This time was different. Detectives had been looking for links between Lexa, the warehouse building and the deaths of Nia and Dante. Marcus assured her that there were no legal links to the warehouse, but the police decided to press on with their case. Another part of the case against Lexa was a charge of running an organised crime syndicate. She knew that the only things that she had legally linking her to anything was Grounders and her apartment, money that Gustus had hidden away was in accounts that were in Lexa’s parent’s names, and though that could be linked back to her, it could also be explained legally, Marcus had assured her of that.

Since she had been arrested, after Cage and Emerson ended up dead in the factory building, Lexa had been held without bail. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that all her mail, both sent and received, was being read. Her phone calls were being recorded. Her first full day in jail had been interesting, it hadn’t taken long for word to get round who she was, nor had it taken long for someone to try and increase their own standing within prison. Lexa could more than hold her own though, and while the group of 4 people who had tried to attack her in the showers lay on the floor in pain, Lexa had calmly picked up her things and left the shower room with nothing more than an aching jaw. Of course, she had her own people on the inside as well, both on remand and out in the main prison population.

During the first four months that she had been held in jail, Lexa got two visits a week, and as the case against her kept evolving she saw Marcus most days. He would keep her up to date about what was going on in the outside world, and she was pleasantly surprised to hear that everything hadn’t fallen apart. With Roan taking the fall for killing Emerson and Cage, Azgeda and Trikru were now starting to work together, Lexa knew that the arrangement probably wouldn’t last and she was dreading Ontari getting out of hospital before she got out of jail. Anya and Lincoln were both in regular contact with Lexa, through letters, phone calls, and visits, along with Indra they were the ones that were holding everything together.

Her first night in jail had been harder than she expected it to be, she’d tried calling Clarke, but no one had picked up. She had finally managed to get through to Raven, who told her that Clarke was staying at her mom’s for a while, and she’d passed on the number to Lexa. When she had called the number, Abby had answered and told her that Clarke was asleep, saying she’d pass on a message and telling Lexa to call again in a couple of days. Of course she hadn’t waited a couple of days, she’d called again the first chance she had the next day, the phone had just rang and rang.

It had been a week before Lexa had any kind of communication with Clarke, and even then it was only a letter. The blonde telling her that she had gone to stay with her mom, letting her know that Luna was still in hospital, and that Clarke had taken the cat from Lexa’s apartment to her moms. Lexa had sent a letter back, though she hated writing letters, they took too long. She had asked Clarke to come and see her, told her that Marcus would arrange a visit for her. She hadn’t got a letter back, a few days after Lexa had sent the letter she’d had a meeting with Marcus, who had told her that Clarke needed time.

So Lexa had done the only thing she could, she’d given Clarke time. She kept writing to her every few days, telling her silly little things about her day, going through all the things that she missed. She’d called both Raven and Octavia most days, both girls telling her what was going on with Clarke, and she had made both Anya and Lincoln promise her that nothing would happen to the blonde.

It had taken Clarke almost two months before she went to see Lexa, most of that visitation had been nothing more than the two of them looking at each other, neither speaking. Lexa didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t tell Clarke that everything would be okay, because she didn’t know if it would be and she had promised Clarke months before that she wouldn’t lie to her. The only time that Lexa had seen even a hint of a smile on Clarke’s lips during that visit was when the blonde had asked her if she needed anything and Lexa had quickly replied with ‘you’.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Now, here she was, sitting in court at the preliminary hearing, Marcus had told her that it would last two or three days, and at the end of that time the judge would decide if there was a case to answer or not. If the judge decided there was a case to answer he would then consider whether to release Lexa on bail or not, pending a full trial.

“Your honour,” Marcus said, standing up from his chair, “I move to have this case dismissed, the prosecution have no evidence of any wrong doing by my client.”

“Sit down, Mr Kane,” the judge said, glancing up at Marcus from the paperwork he was looking at, “you’ll get your time to talk.”

Lexa smirked a little as Marcus walked back to his chair.

“Your honour,” the prosecutor said as he stood up, “we have evidence to show that Ms Woods has links to organised crime…”

“It’s Miss Woods.” Lexa mumbled.

“What was that?” the judge said, his eyes snapping to Lexa.

“It’s Miss Woods,” Lexa repeated a little louder, “not Ms. Ms implies that I’m married, and to the best of my knowledge I’m not.”

“ _Miss_ Woods,” the judge said, emphasising the word Miss, “though your point in this case is correct, I would advise you to refrain from such corrections as the proceedings continue.”

“Yes, sir.” Lexa said with a smirk and a nod, which caused the judge to roll his eyes a little before he looked back at the prosecutor.

“As I was saying, your honour,” the prosecutor continued, “we have evidence that shows Miss Woods has links to organised crime. We have two police officers that can put her in a warehouse that we believe was used to plan and carry out at least two murders.”

Lexa looked at Marcus, he had his head down and was writing something on a piece of paper, before passing the paper to Lexa. She looked down and read what was written:

_Evidence they can’t use because they didn’t have a warrant to wiretap the warehouse._

“We also have evidence of financial transactions that link Miss Woods to the dealings of her deceased uncle, Gustus Trikru,” the prosecutor continued, “a man that she is suspected of killing.”

“Objection.” Marcus said, standing up, causing the judge to look at him, “this trial has nothing to do with that particular case, your honour.”

The judge looked at the prosecutor.

“The DA is still investigating that case.” The prosecutor said, “as of this moment it still stands as a self defence case.”

“So any mention of it cannot be used in this case,” the judge said before he looked back at Marcus, “objection sustained.”

“The evidence that we will present to the court will show that on the evening that Miss Woods was detained, she had earlier been inside the warehouse in question,” the prosecutor said, “once she had been arrested a team was sent to the warehouse where they found a large supply of weapons, ranging from knifes and hand guns to semi-automatic and automatic weapons.”

Lexa knew she wouldn’t be able to argue that fact, she knew there were weapons in the warehouse and she also knew that at least two of the weapons, a handgun and a .22 rifle were registered in her name.

“Has the defence had access to the evidence the prosecution is submitting to the court?” the judge asked as he looked at Marcus.

“We have, your honour,” Marcus said, standing up again, “but we intend to argue to legality of the search in question as no warrants were issued for the surveillance which lead to the initial search of the warehouse. Also, even though a large number of weapons were reportedly found, only two can be linked directly back to my client, and those were legally registered.”

“Though those two weapons were legally registered, it still links your client to the warehouse.” The prosecutor said, looking over at Marcus.

“It links the weapons to the warehouse,” Lexa said, unable to stop herself, “it puts the weapons in the warehouse, it doesn’t put me there.”

“Miss Woods.” The judge said.

“Sorry, your honour.” Lexa said with a sigh, sitting back in her seat a little.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“What did I miss?” Raven asked, quietly sitting next to Anya at the back of the court room.

“Lexa being a smartass,” Anya replied with a sigh, as she looked at the girl, “she’s not coming is she?”

“Not this morning,” Raven said, shaking her head a little, “Octavia is with her though, she said she’ll try and get her here this afternoon.”

“Lexa needs her here.” Anya said.

“I know that,” Raven replied, softly putting her hand on Anya’s thigh, “you know that. Has Lexa told her that?”

“What do you think?” Anya asked in reply, taking Raven’s hand in her own, “admitting she needs her here would be like admitting she can’t do this on her own, and that’s…”

“That’s not Lexa.” Raven said with a nod.

“I was talking to Marcus earlier and he said that he’s confident,” Anya said, “but I just can’t help but think that somewhere in this clusterfuck of shit they’ll have something that sticks…”

A woman that was sitting in front of Anya and Raven turned and looked at the pair, a frown on her face.

“This is a court room not a movie theatre,” Anya said, “if our quiet discussion is disturbing your daily entertainment I suggest you move.”

The woman did as Anya suggested, standing up and moving to an empty seat a few rows closer to the main part of the court.

“Anya…” Raven said softly.

“I know,” Anya replied with a sigh, shaking her head a little, “I know… this might just be a big court case for these people, but she’s family, and I can’t think about what’s going to happen if this all goes to hell.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“So,” Octavia said, dropping herself down on the sofa next to Clarke, who was flicking through the channels on the television, “what’s the plan for this afternoon?”

Clarke shrugged a little, not taking her eyes off the TV.

“We could always…” Octavia started to say.

“Don’t.” Clarke replied, looking at her friend, “don’t say we could always go to court. I can’t be there, O…”

“Why not?” Octavia asked.

“I just…” Clarke said, shaking her head a little, “I can’t.”

Bellamy walked into the living room from the kitchen where he had been putting together some snacks. He looked at Octavia, who just shook her head a little.

“She needs you there.” Octavia said as Bellamy sat down on one of the chairs.

“It isn’t going to make any difference if I’m there or not,” Clarke replied, “it’ll be easier if I’m not…”

“How do you figure that?” Bellamy asked.

“It’s not like she’ll be able to talk to me,” the blonde said, “I’ll be sitting there, watching everything happen and… and then when it does happen… I can’t sit there knowing I’m going to lose her. If the charges stick, she’ll be going away for a long time, and…”

“They won’t stick.” Bellamy replied.

“Aren’t you supposed to want them to stick?” Clarke asked as she looked at him, “I mean, it’s your job right? To get criminals off the street? You’re in the gangs and violent crimes division, Bellamy, Lexa being in court is probably like Christmas to you.”

“Before I got to know her,” Bellamy said, “sure, I would’ve loved nothing more than to see her get arrested. Gang violence in this city isn’t going to stop if Lexa gets put in prison for the rest of her life, if anything it’ll get worse. And right now I’m not really thinking about this in a professional way, she’s my friend, Clarke.”

“Right,” Clarke said with a nod, as she stood up, “that’s why you and Costia sat outside the warehouse that night, that’s why you listened in over the radio, because she’s your friend.”

Bellamy and Octavia sat and watched as Clarke walked up the stairs. Bellamy moved to stand up.

“I’ll go…” Octavia said with a sigh, as she stood up, “she’s more likely to talk to me.”

“I really don’t want to see Lexa go to jail,” Bellamy said, “she has to understand that.”

“She’s angry, Bell,” Octavia said with a small smile, “she’s lashing out, you just happen to be here right now.”

Octavia walked up the stairs and went to Clarke’s room, the door was open a little but she knocked anyway.

“Please go away…” Clarke said, burying her head in her pillow.

“Yeah,” Octavia said, pushing the door open and walking into the room, “cause that’s going to happen.”

Octavia sat on Clarke’s bed, near the blondes legs, as she laid with her face on her pillow.

“You know she isn’t getting sentenced after this hearing right,” Octavia said, “this is just for the judge to decide whether there should even be a trial.”

“So I go there,” Clarke said, turning over on her bed, fixing her eyes on the ceiling, “sit in the court room, listen to the prosecutor list all this crap that they think Lexa’s done, most of it she probably has… the judge then decides that there’ll be a trail, and I have to watch her leave the court room, knowing that I can’t… this is going to sound so stupid, but I don’t know how to… she’s turned my entire world upside down, O…”

“That whole family seem to have the ability to do that,” Octavia said with a small smile, “we know what they do, we know what they’re capable of, yet… that’s not the shit we think about. We think about the quiet nights cuddled up on the sofa, the fun nights full of pizza and beer and stupid conversations…”

“And cats that come in from the storm and then decide not to leave again.” Clarke said with a laugh.

“I wonder what the judge would make of that,” Octavia said with a laugh of her own, “Lexa, badass gangster, sharer of space with a cat.”

“Can you text Raven…” Clarke said, “let her know that I’ll be there this afternoon…”

“Sure thing.” Octavia said with a small smile and nod.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was standing in the small meeting room that Marcus had arranged to have her taken to, the court was in recess for lunch, and as her lawyer he could have a meeting with her anywhere in the court building. That was one thing that she was thankful for, Marcus knew every single angle he could use within the law. She was pacing the room, stopping every now and again to look out of the window, watching young kids play in the park which was behind the court house. While she was looking out of the window the door to the room opened, Lexa was expecting it to be Marcus.

“Well, you took your…” she started to say as she turned around, stopping when she saw it wasn’t Marcus, “Clarke…”

“You’ve got 10 minutes.” Marcus said, looking at Lexa before he closed the door.

“I didn’t think you were going to come.” Lexa said as she slowly walked towards where Clarke was standing.

“I…” Clarke said, closing her eyes as Lexa reached her and pulled her into a hug, “god, I missed you…”

Lexa didn’t say anything as she held the blonde close, breathing in the scent of safety and home, something that she had missed.

“Are you okay?” Lexa asked as she backed out of the hug a little and softly cradled Clarke’s face in her hands.

“Yeah,” Clarke said with a small nod, “I’m okay. Marcus said that he’s pretty sure he can get you out on bail at the end of this, that’s if the judge doesn’t throw the whole thing out.”

Lexa nodded as she took Clarke’s hand and led her over to the table in the room, sitting down on one of the chairs as the blonde sat on the other, not letting go of the brunette’s hand.

“There are a couple of things that could stick,” Lexa admitted, “but that’s mostly the financial shit. A couple of guns that are registered to me were found in the warehouse, which links me to that, but not in a substantial way. The gun that you used in the factory building is also registered to me, but they don’t seem to be wanting to try me for that, I think they’re satisfied with charging Roan with that…”

“I still don’t understand why he did that…” Clarke said, looking down at her hand in Lexa’s, “I mean, I shot him…”

“He owed me,” Lexa replied with a shrug, “a debt is a debt, and now it’s been repaid.”

“But he’ll go to prison for the rest of his life, for something that he didn’t do…” the blonde said.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Lexa said, “Marcus is looking into that.”

“I killed him, Lexa,” Clarke replied, “it goes against everything I… I’m a doctor, I’m supposed to save people…”

“You saved _me_ , Clarke,” Lexa said, putting her fingers under the blonde’s chin and softly lifting her head so that blue eyes met green, “in more ways than you’ll ever know…”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Glad you could finally make it.” Anya said to Clarke as she and Raven sat next to the blonde in the seats just behind where Lexa was sitting.

“Shut up, Anya.” Clarke replied.

Lexa turned her head and looked at her cousin, who held her hands up a little.

“Wouldn’t it just make more sense to pay off the judge?” Raven asked Anya, “I mean that’s what gangsters do right?”

Lexa shook her head a little and laughed quietly as she heard what Raven said.

“He is up for re-election soon,” Marcus said, leaning back towards the girls, “it’s always an option.”

“Or we could just kidnap his wife and kids…” Lexa said with a shrug, “but then again, this isn’t a modern day Godfather movie.”

The door to the judges chambers opened and the judge walked out.

“All rise.” The court official said, causing everyone to stand up.

“Be seated.” The judge said as he sat down.

Everyone sat back down again.

“It’s like musical fucking chairs.” Raven muttered, which caused Lexa to actually laugh.

“Sorry, your honour,” she said, as the judge looked at her.

“Is there something you find amusing, Miss Woods?” he asked.

“There are a lot…” Lexa started to say, stopping as Marcus looked at her, “no, sir.”

“Mr Kane,” the judge said, “the floor is yours.”

Marcus stood up and walked from behind the desk.

“Bear in mind this is not a jury trial, Mr Kane, there is no need for theatrics.” The judge said, which nearly made Lexa laugh again, though she stifled it by putting her hand over her mouth.

“Your honour,” Marcus said, “we believe that much of the prosecution’s evidence was not legally obtained. They got a search warrant for the warehouse based on illegally obtained information. They placed two detectives outside the warehouse, where they listened in to what was a private conversation without the proper legal groundwork in place.”

Lexa leant back in her chair a little and glanced over at the prosecution table, where the two lawyers were busy shuffling through some paperwork. She smirked a little as one of them looked at her.

“Miss Woods.” The judge said, causing Lexa to look at him, “you could at least try not to appear so smug.”

“Yes, sir.” Lexa said, biting the inside of her lip a little to stop the smile which was tugging at her lips.

“Continue, Mr Kane.” The judge said, looking at Marcus.

“Fucking idiot…” Anya muttered from where she was sitting, causing Lexa to turn and look at her.

Clarke arched her eyebrow a little as she looked at Lexa, causing the brunette to smile a little as she turned back around to face the front of the court.

“We already have witness testimony from the two detectives in question,” Marcus continued, “who have both stated, under oath, that they did not have the legal warrants necessary to gather the information that they did on the night in question.”

“Objection.” One of the prosecutors said as he stood up, causing the judge to look at him, “both of the detectives are on our intended witness list, your honour.”

“Did you get their legal testimony before Mr Kane asked them to provide any information he may have gathered from them?” the judge asked.

“No, sir.” The prosecutor said, “but they are both officers of…”

“Overruled.” The judge said, interrupting him.

“As the information that the detectives obtained could not be used, legally, in court,” Marcus continued, “that information should not have been able to be used to get a search warrant for the warehouse, so any and all evidence that was recovered cannot, legally, be used as part of this case.”

“Is there anything linking the defendant to the ownership of the warehouse?” the judge asked, looking at the prosecutors.

They both started looking through more papers on the table.

“The warehouse is legally owned by a known acquaintance of the defendant, your honour,” one of the men said, “a woman with known connections to a criminal organisation who served prison time for an offence linked to gang violence.”

“That does not answer my question.” The judge said.

“We can show the links between…” the prosecutor started to say.

“Do you have evidence that links the defendant directly to the warehouse?” the judge asked.

“Not at this time.” The prosecutor replied.

Marcus turned and looked at Lexa, a small smile on his lips.

“Mr Kane,” the judge said, “do you have anything more to add?”

“Not at this time, your honour.” Marcus said, walking back to his seat.

“If both sides have presented the evidence they have to this court; I will now retire to consider my ruling.” the judge said as he stood up.

As the judge walked from the room Lexa leant back her chair, releasing a long deep breath as she looked up at the ceiling of the court room.

“We’ll have you out of here before the end of the day.” Marcus said, resting his hand on Lexa’s shoulder.

“I hope so.” Lexa replied quietly.

“Just because they can’t link her to the warehouse doesn’t mean the financial charges and the criminal organisation charge won’t stick though, does it?” Anya asked, leaning forward in her chair, her arms resting against the wooden barrier between the seating and the main court room.

“No, it doesn’t,” Marcus admitted, “but not being able to link her to the warehouse will also take the two most serious charges off the table.

“The murder charges…” Clarke said.

“Bingo,” Marcus said with a small smile, “it’s a lot easier to get someone released on bail who doesn’t have two counts of murder hanging over their head.”

“So she could be coming home?” Clarke asked, her eyes fixed on Marcus, rather than Lexa.

“Hopefully.” He said with a nod.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was pacing back and forth in the holding cell of the court house; the judge had been out for nearly two hours. She knew he had a lot to go through, but she also knew most of it wouldn’t stick. Like Marcus had said, if they couldn’t link her to the warehouse, then the case of Nia and Dante’s death wouldn’t stand either. Even if the other charges stuck she could still be at home that night, in her own bed, hopefully with Clarke. She sat down on the ledge in the cell, taking the folded up piece of paper out of her pocket. The folds were prominent in the paper, due to the amount of times Lexa had unfolded and refolded the letter again, she’d had it on the wall in her cell for a while. She smiled a little as she read the words from the page:

_To Lexa_

_My mom said I might not be able to see you for a while; she won’t tell me why though. Can you tell me why? I miss you. We still need to go to a ballgame._

_Love Tris._

Lexa had talked to Luna after she got out of the clinic, and they’d agreed that it was probably for the best not to tell Tris exactly what was going on, the kid wasn’t stupid though, it wouldn’t have taken her long to figure out what was going on. Lexa had called her from jail to tell her that she might be going away for a little while, Tris had cried, reminding Lexa that she’d promised never to go away. Lexa had told her that she could write to her any time she wanted, all she had to do was give the letter to Luna or Anya and they’d make sure she got it.

She’d gone over that night again and again in her head, there wasn’t much else for her to do while she sat in her cell. Even though the night ended with her being arrested, she still wouldn’t have done anything differently. Tris was safe.

As the guard opened the holding cell door, Lexa stood up and put the letter back in her pocket.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“What’s taking so long?” Raven asked, looking around the small group that were gathered at Grounders.

While Lexa had been in jail, Anya and Lincoln had got the bar fixed back up again, they hadn’t reopened because it didn’t feel right doing that without Lexa there, as the bar technically was hers as well.

“They’ll be here soon.” Indra said, glancing at the girl.

The door opened and Luna walked in with Tris, the young girls face lit up when she saw Clarke, she hadn’t seen her in a while. She didn’t say anything as she dropped Luna’s hand and ran over to the blonde, climbing up onto her knee.

“Where did you go?” Tris asked as she wrapped her arms around Clarke’s neck and hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry…” Clarke said quietly as she hugged the girl back.

“I seriously do not understand why…” Lexa said as she, Marcus and Anya walked into Grounders, stopping when she saw everyone.

“Lexa!” Tris said, jumping down off Clarke’s knee and running over to the girl.

Lexa dropped down to her knee and caught the girl as she flung herself at her. Picking her up with her as she stood back up.

“Hey squirt…” Lexa said.

After a few moments, Lexa put Tris down as Luna walked over to them.

“Thank you…” Luna said, a small smile tugging at her lips, “that doesn’t sound enough…”

“You’re family.” Lexa said, pulling her into a hug, “no need to thank me.”

Clarke stayed seated as everyone else went over to talk to Lexa.

“So what are the bail conditions?” Ryder asked, looking at Marcus.

“She has to stay in the city.” Marcus replied.

The rest of the room seemed to fade out as Lexa walked over to where Clarke was sitting.

“Hey…” the brunette said quietly.

Clarke sighed as she stood up and put her arms around Lexa.

“You’re home…” Clarke said quietly.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied, tightening her arms around the blonde, “I’m home.”


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luna wants out, Clarke wants out, Lexa questions whether or not she can actually walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, as promised earlier on Tumblr, here's the update for this one. Only one part left after this. I'm going to be pretty sad to see this one end as it has been one of my favourite to write so far. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think. I'm hoping you'll be pretty satisfied with the way this is going.

 

When Clarke woke up the bed was empty, she had spent the night at Lexa’s apartment after hanging out at Grounders, they both knew that they needed to talk about their relationship and how they moved forward. They’d stayed up late into the night talking, about anything and everything, before deciding to go to sleep, though Clarke knew that Lexa hadn’t slept much. The blonde had woken up a few times during the night to see Lexa either watching her sleep or laying there looking at the ceiling.

Clarke made her way out of the bedroom and saw Lexa sitting on the sofa, her feet resting on the coffee table, while she was on the phone.

“Anya or Indra can deal with that.” Lexa said into the phone as she rested her head against the back of the sofa, “no, tell Anya to give me a call when she knows what’s what… I literally just got home last night, I have more important things to worry about than where you’re going to get a new gun…”

Lexa hung up the phone with a sigh and tossed it to the other side of the sofa.

“You okay?” Clarke asked as she walked towards the sofa.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod and a sigh as she looked at Clarke, “did you sleep okay?”

“Honestly, yes,” the blonde said, “better than I have in a while. You didn’t though…”

“I have a lot going on in my head.” Lexa said with a small smile as Clarke sat down on the sofa.

“Anything you want to talk about?” Clarke asked.

“I know Anya wants to open Grounders again, but I think we should hold off,” Lexa said with a sigh, “until my court case is out of the way everything I do is going to be watched. Though Azgeda have been working with us, Ontari is still a worry, and without Roan there’s a leadership void there… Luna hasn’t been able to reopen her bar yet, so she’s not working, she won’t let Anya help her out financially either, so that’s a worry…”

“Why won’t she let Anya help?” Clarke said, her brow furrowed a little.

“I don’t know,” Lexa replied, “Indra thinks it has something to do with being seen to be taking gang related money. She’s bringing Tris round here later, so I’ll talk to her about it then.”

“While she was in the clinic she was saying something about moving away.” Clarke said, “Taking Tris and just going, getting away from everything. I think Cage and Emerson taking Tris freaked her out.”

“I’m not surprised.” Lexa said, running her hand through her hair, “Luna isn’t even technically part of Trikru anymore, and someone still used Tris to get to me.”

“Would it be easy for Luna to do that?” Clarke asked, “I mean just pack up and leave? Would she be able to disappear or…?”

“Or would I stop her going?” Lexa asked in reply, causing Clarke to nod, “No, I wouldn’t stop her, I’d help her if that’s what she wanted.”

“Why?” the blonde asked.

“I don’t want Tris growing up and thinking that this is the kind of world she belongs in,” Lexa replied honestly, “I want her to have so many more options than me, Anya and Lincoln did. She told me once that she didn’t need school because she was going to work for Gustus. We don’t want this life for her.”

“You have other options now too,” Clarke said as she looked at Lexa, “the last four months have proven that nothing is going to fall apart without you…”

“Do you really think that in the last four months a serious decision has been made without it being run past me first?” Lexa asked, “I was getting daily phone calls from Indra, Anya, Lincoln… Marcus was passing on information when he came in to the prison to see me.”

“But you don’t need to be here,” Clarke replied with a sigh, “not all the time…”

“This is my life, Clarke,” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “you know that.”

“Can’t you make a decision for you for once, for us?” Clarke said, standing up from the sofa, “You can’t live your life for other people, Lexa.”

“Say I do decide to leave,” Lexa said, looking at the blonde, “one day just give it all up and move away. What happens when Ontari comes back? What happens then?”

“It won’t be your problem” Clarke replied.

“But it will,” Lexa said, “these are my people, Clarke, my family. I can’t just walk away. I can’t just leave.”

“What about me, Lexa,” Clarke said, tears starting to burn her eyes, “I don’t know if I can live like this…”

“Then you have a choice to make.” Lexa replied, “I can’t make that choice for you.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

“Where’s Clarke?” Tris asked as she sat on the sofa at Lexa’s.

“She’s at her moms house.” Lexa replied.

“Where’s the cat?” Tris asked.

“Tris…” Luna said.

“You messed it up, huh.” Tris said as she looked at Lexa.

“Yeah, kid,” Lexa said with a small nod, “I think I did.”

“What happened?” Luna asked.

“This morning we were talking about you wanting to get away,” Lexa said with a sigh, “and Clarke said that these last four months have proven that things here wouldn’t fall apart without me…”

“She didn’t know that you were still running things while you were…” Luna said, stopping herself as she glanced at Tris, “not here?”

“Where did you go?” Tris asked, “Anya told me that you went on holiday for a little while, but that makes no sense, because you wouldn’t go on holiday without Clarke.”

“Do you remember that night when those nasty people took you away?” Luna asked, causing Tris to nod as she looked between her mom and Lexa, “and you know that Lexa got you back…well she got arrested, and they locked her away.”

“You went to jail?” Tris asked as she looked at Lexa again.

“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a nod, “I went to jail.”

“Why?” Tris asked, “what bad things did you do to go to jail?”

“The police couldn’t prove I did the bad things that they say I did,” Lexa said as she looked at the young girl, “which is why they let me go.”

“Did you do the bad things?” Tris asked, her brow furrowed slightly.

“Some of them.” Lexa replied honestly.

“Did you kill Uncle Gustus?” the young girl asked quietly, “I heard mom and Aunt Indra talking about it…”

“You remember that night I was in the clinic,” Lexa replied, thinking about the best way to word her answer, while still being as honest as she could be with Tris, “when I was hurt really bad?”

“When everyone thought you were going away?” Tris asked.

“Yeah, that night,” Lexa said with a nod, “me and Gustus had a fight… and he hurt me really bad, and only one of us was going to come out of that fight alive. I didn’t want to hurt him, but he did want to hurt me.”

“Why?” Tris said.

“It’s complicated.” Lexa replied.

“Your Uncle Gustus was involved with some very bad people,” Luna said, “and those people wanted to make some very bad things happen. Lexa wouldn’t let him.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Clarke had spent most of the afternoon at her mom’s house, thinking over the conversation she’d had with Lexa that morning. She also thought back to the very early days of their relationship, when Lexa hadn’t talked to her for a few days. The brunette had told Clarke that she didn’t fit in the blonde’s world, and Clarke would never survive in hers. At the time Clarke had told Lexa that it was her choice to make, though Lexa believed that it wasn’t fair of her to ask Clarke to live her life that way. Lexa had done everything that she could to make Clarke see that her life wasn’t easy, she had given Clarke every chance to walk away early on, and Clarke hadn’t taken it. She’d fought her all the way, said that she’d be there and stand by her no matter what, and now she was questioning everything.

Lexa had tried to tell her, during the early days of their relationship, that things wouldn’t always be as quiet as they were at that point. That she’d have to do somethings that Clarke wouldn’t agree with or understand. She’d never lied to Clarke about who she was.

Clarke was driving herself insane with the thoughts in her head, so she decided that she was going to go into work at the clinic, even though she was supposed to have the next few days off. As soon as she arrived her mother walked over to her.

“I thought you were off for the next few days.” Abby said as she followed Clarke through to the locker room.

“Yeah,” Clarke said, taking her jacket off and putting it in her locker, “well now I’m here.”

“What’s going on, Clarke?” Abby asked.

“Nothing, I just need to work.” The blonde replied, moving to walk past her mom who was standing in the doorway.

“Did something happen with Lexa?” Abby asked, not moving aside to let Clarke pass, “Did you two have another fight?”

“I asked for something she wasn’t willing to give,” Clarke said, shaking her head as she went and sat down on the bench in the middle of the room, “that’s all…”

“What are you talking about?” Abby asked, walking over and sitting down next to her daughter, “I might not be Lexa’s biggest fan, but she’d do anything for you.”

“Yeah, not this.” Clarke said with a shrug, “apparently putting us first and walking away is too much.”

“You’re asking her to turn her back on everything she’s ever known, Clarke,” Abby replied, “this is the life Lexa was born into, it’s the life she has lived for as long as she can remember. Replacing Gustus put her at the head of the family, people look to her for everything, and you’re asking her to walk away from that, from them.”

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Lexa was sitting alone in her apartment, drinking the bottle of whiskey that Luna had brought with her, thinking about where her life was going. A knock on the door snapped her from her thoughts. As she stood up she realised that she probably should have eaten something before she started drinking. She put the bottle down on the coffee table before walking over and answering the door.

“How’re you doing, kid?” Indra asked as Lexa opened the door.

“I’m awesome.” Lexa replied, stepping aside and letting Indra in before she closed the door and followed her Aunt into the living room.

Indra noticed the bottle on the coffee table as she sat down.

“Where’s Clarke?” she asked.

“Her mom’s I think.” Lexa replied, picking the bottle back up as she sat back down.

“You two have another falling out?” Indra asked, shaking her head a little as Lexa offered her the bottle.

“Falling out implies argument, that didn’t happen,” Lexa said, taking another drink from the bottle, “it seems that Clarke has realised what I told her months ago… our lives are just too different. I don’t belong in her world, and she’ll never survive in mine…”

“So that’s it, you’re just giving up?” Indra said.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?” Lexa asked in reply, “she knew who I was before we got together, she knew what my life was like. I told her, Anya told her, hell I’m pretty sure everyone including her mother told her…”

“So you’re just going to let her walk away.” Indra said as she looked at Lexa, “you’re going to let the woman you love, leave? Just like that?”

“I can’t fight for something that she doesn’t want.” Lexa said, “I can’t force her to live in my world, Indra. She’s never going to be happy if that happens…”

“And you’ll be happy if you let her go?” Indra asked.

“Of course not, but what other choice do I have?” Lexa said, tears starting to burn her eyes, “it’s like Costia all over again, but worse… I thought I finally had it figured out, I thought that maybe I’d finally found that one person out there who accepted me, who I didn’t have to hide things from… that one person who made getting up every morning worth it. I guess this just proves that I’m meant to be alone.”

“Bullshit.” Indra replied, causing Lexa to look at her, “that’s right, you heard me, bullshit.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Anya…” Lexa said, shaking her head a little.

“All this proves is that you have a choice to make,” Indra said, ignoring Lexa’s comment, “granted it isn’t going to be an easy choice, but it is your choice. A choice that nobody else can make for you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Lexa asked.

“You can live your life like this, being unhappy, living for everyone else and not taking anything for yourself,” Indra replied, “or you can live the life that your parents wanted for you. They didn’t want this life for you, any more than any of us want this life for Tris. This wasn’t supposed to be your life, Lexa.”

“It isn’t as simple as that though is it.” Lexa said, shaking her head a little, “I can’t just walk away from this, you know that.”

“I’m making it as simple as that.” Indra replied, reaching into her jacket pocket and taking out a set of keys, before holding them out to Lexa.

“What’s this?” Lexa asked.

“Your future, with Clarke, if you want it.” Indra replied.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Hours after Indra left, Lexa was still sitting on the sofa, looking at the keys which were on the coffee table. She had an out, if she wanted to take it. Indra had explained to her that the keys were for the house that her parents had bought, the place they were going to take her to before they were killed. A house that she now owned, that she had known nothing about. Indra had kept the keys, made sure the house was kept in order, in case one day Lexa needed it.

They’d talked about how Anya and Lincoln could deal with the day to day running of Trikru, how Lexa would be kept informed of everything that happened without having to be there. Lexa knew if she took this chance it would mean a fresh start, a future that she wanted, a future with the woman she loved. She also knew that it could mean a fresh start for Luna and Tris as well. She’d called Luna about it earlier in the night and the other woman seemed open to the idea.

“Fuck it.” Lexa said, standing up and grabbing the keys from the table, before putting her jacket on and heading out of the door.

 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 

Just as Clarke was about to go to bed her phone lit up with a text message.

 **Lexa:** Open the door, please.

Clarke sighed as she contemplated not opening the door, but for all the reasons she had for ignoring Lexa’s message, there was one reason she couldn’t. Her heart wouldn’t let her. She pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a hoodie, that she was sure was actually Lexa’s, and headed downstairs.

She opened the door to find Lexa standing there.

“Indra came to see me,” Lexa said when it became clear that Clarke wasn’t going to say anything, “my parents had a house, in the middle of nowhere, on an island in a Caribbean. They were going to take me there when I was a kid…”

“Have you been drinking?” Clarke asked.

“Why is that important?” Lexa asked in reply.

“How did you get here, Lexa?” the blonde asked.

“I walked.” Lexa said, “anyway, as I was saying, they had this house, and that house is now mine. And, well…”

Lexa got the keys out of her pocket and handed them to Clarke.

“What’s this?” Clarke asked.

“That is our future,” Lexa replied, “if you still want it.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so we come to the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, guys, the end of this awesome adventure. I want to say thank you to each and everyone of you who have stuck with this, it has been so great to see all your comments and to know that you've all enjoyed reading it. When I first started this one I didn't really know where it was going to go, but that's all part of the fun, right? Hope you all enjoy this final part, and thank you, again.

 

_**Two years later...** _

 

Lexa’s birthday was coming up, they’d been living on the island for a year and a half, and everything had been going great. Clarke had opened a clinic in the nearest city, which was an hour’s drive from where the couple lived, Lexa had started up a fighting gym which also ran anti-gang programs for city kids, Luna had opened a small bar. It had been a big adjustment for all of them, but it had been hardest for Lexa. Clarke had thought it would have been harder for Tris than for any of them, but the young girl was loving living on the island. She’d made some new friends, was doing really well in school and had stopped lashing out at people.

They had missed a lot while they had been away from the city. Ontari had disappeared, nobody knew where she had gone, Roan had been given 10 years in jail for manslaughter rather than two life terms for murder, which had been the best that Marcus could do for him. A week before Clarke and Lexa had left Octavia had told everyone that she was pregnant.

The only time that Clarke, Lexa, Tris and Luna had been back in the city was for the wedding, where Octavia had complained the whole time that she looked like a beached whale who couldn’t see her feet, though Lincoln had countered that claim every time she made it by telling her that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Raven had chipped in, saying that Octavia was probably the cutest beached whale she’d ever seen, which had earned her yet another slap round the head from Anya. Some things really never did change.

Now, as Clarke sat in the living room watching Lexa swimming laps in their pool, she couldn’t help but think what the future held for the two of them. Her life had already taken her in directions that she had never expected to go, she had been involved in situations that she never thought she would be, but at that very moment in time she was happier than she ever thought possible.

“Are you going to tell her?” Luna asked, walking up behind Clarke, making the blonde nearly jump out of the chair.

“Jesus Christ,” Clarke said, putting her hand over her racing heart, “I live in a house full of ninjas.”

“Are you going to tell her?” Luna repeated, a smirk pulling at her lips.

“Tell her what?” Clarke asked, looking back out at the pool where Tris was now throwing a ball trying to hit Lexa on the head.

“Don’t pull the dumb blonde card on me, Clarke.” Luna said, “I know the signs.”

“I want to surprise her.” Clarke said, a small smile pulling at her lips as she rested her hands over her stomach.

The conversation between Clarke and Luna quickly turned to laughter as Tris managed to hit Lexa in the head and her laughter filtered through the big open doors that lead out to the backyard. Lexa changed the direction she was swimming in and swam towards the edge where Tris was standing, doubled over, laughing. Tris’s eyes flew open as she felt hands grab hold of her.

“Lexa, no!” she yelled as Lexa pushed herself up on the edge of the pool.

“Lexa, yes.” Lexa replied with a laugh, throwing Tris over her head and into the pool.

“Mom!” Tris yelled as she broke the surface of the pool and started treading water, “Lexa just threw me in the pool.”

“Oh my god,” Lexa said, quickly swimming over to her, “I can’t believe you just told your mom on me.”

Clarke and Luna both laughed as Tris tried to swim away from Lexa.

“Are you sure you really want another kid in the house?” Luna asked with a laugh, “isn’t two enough?”

 

x-x-x-x

 

As Clarke and Lexa sat in the backyard as the sun set, Lexa let out a contented sigh as she wrapped her arms around Clarke’s waist and placed a soft kiss on the side of her head.

“Your birthday is coming up in a couple of days.” Clarke said.

“It is.” Lexa replied with a small nod.

“Any ideas about what you want to do yet?” the blonde asked in reply.

“This.” Lexa said, “just be here, with you.”

“You really are a big softie,” Clarke said with a small laugh, “you know that right.”

“Only with you, Clarke,” Lexa replied, kissing the blonde’s head again, “only with you.”

“Two years ago, did you ever think we’d be here?” Clarke asked.

“No,” Lexa said with a sigh, shaking her head a little, “two years ago I was sure I’d end up in jail and I was pretty sure that I would lose the best thing that had ever happened to me.”

“And yet, here we are.” Clarke said.

“Here we are.” Lexa replied.

While the lay there and watch the sun set, Clarke couldn’t help but smile to herself a little. Obviously she already had plans for Lexa’s birthday, she’d overheard the brunette on the phone about a week before, talking to Anya, saying how much she missed everyone. So, Clarke, Luna and Tris had organised for everyone to come to the island for Lexa’s birthday. The blonde hadn’t been sure if Tris would be able to keep it a secret as she was really excited about seeing everyone again, but so far the young girl had managed to not slip up.

“Do you ever miss it?” Clarke asked.

“Miss what?” Lexa asked in reply.

“The city, the gang, everything?” the blonde said with a sigh.

“Honestly, I miss some of it.” Lexa admitted, “not the fighting, the getting shot at, getting stabbed, that I am pretty happy to do without. But the rest of it… it’s how I grew up. We weren’t just a gang, we were family. So, yeah, I miss parts of it.”

“Would you go back?” Clarke asked.

“No,” Lexa said, shaking her head, “though I miss some parts of it, I’ve got everything I need right here.”

As if on cue, the cat, which they had managed to bring over to the island with them after a short quarantine period, jumped up next to Clarke.

“And just where have you been, mister.” Clarke said to the cat, who simply curled up next to her, purring away happily.

“Well I guess that answers that, doesn’t it, Orion.” Lexa said, scratching the cat gently under the chin, causing him to purr louder.

“I think even he likes it here more than in the city.” Clarke said with a soft smile as she looked at the cat.

“I wasn’t going to leave him behind,” Lexa said with a small shrug, “I mean, for a while there I was pretty sure you love the cat more than you love me.”

“Well, he doesn’t steal all the covers at night, and I don’t really have to clean up after him,” Clarke said, laughing a little as Lexa tickled her slightly, “I’m joking, babe.”

“Good.” Lexa replied.

Clarke didn’t need to look at Lexa to know the brunette was pouting a little, which made her laugh again.

 

x-x-x-x

 

Two days later and it was Lexa’s birthday. Luna had agreed to keep Lexa out of the house until later in the afternoon, by which time Clarke would have everything else organised. The blonde had gone to the airport and picked everyone up, knowing that not everyone would fit in her car she had arranged for a large cab to take some of them back to the house, as even Marcus and Abby had made the trip.

When they were back at the house, Clarke, Indra and Abby were organising the food in the large kitchen when Raven came in to grab another beer.

“You not pre-gaming with us, Griffin?” she asked.

“You make it sound like we’re still college kids, Raven.” Clarke replied with a laugh.

“Whereas you’re making us all sound old.” Raven said.

“I’m just not drinking.” Clarke said with a small smile.

“At all?” Raven asked, causing Clarke to shake her head, “wait a minute…”

Clarke fought to keep the smile from her lips as Abby and Indra shared a knowing smile of their own.

“Oh my god.” Raven said, rather loudly, making others come in from where they were in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Octavia asked.

“Raven…” Clarke said, looking at her friend.

“What’s with the yelling?” Anya asked as she walked into the kitchen, followed by Bellamy, Lincoln, Tris, and Marcus.

“Clarke’s pregnant.” Raven said, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at the blonde.

Ryder, Nyko, Marius and Tristan chose that moment to walk into the kitchen.

“How does that work?” Tristan asked, “I mean Lexa doesn’t have a…”

“IVF,” Clarke said, turning to face the group, “we decided that we were going to try, and it worked, so…”

“You’re having a baby?” Tris asked, a big grin on her face.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied with a nod, “we’re having a baby.”

“Lexa didn’t mention it.” Anya said, furrowing her brow a little.

“Lexa doesn’t know yet.” Clarke said, “I’m planning on telling her later today.”

“Oh my god.” Octavia said, rushing over to Clarke and pulling her into a hug.

The hug between Clarke and Octavia turned into a massive group hug as everyone else joined in.

“This food isn’t going to organise itself you know.” Indra said, causing everyone to pull out of the hug.

 

x-x-x-x

 

Lexa and Luna arrived back at the house to find the living room and kitchen empty.

“Where’s Clarke and Tris?” Lexa asked, dropping her bag down and shrugging off her jacket, throwing it over the arm of the sofa.

“Check out back.” Luna said, “they’re probably in the pool.”

As soon as Lexa went outside everyone yelled ‘surprise’, making her jump a little. The brunette looked around the group of people, people she had missed, until her eyes settled on Clarke, the blonde smiling a little.

“Happy birthday.” Clarke said as Lexa pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you…” Lexa replied quietly.

After everyone had said their hellos and wished Lexa a happy birthday, the brunette quickly stole Skye from Octavia before walking back over to Clarke.

“How did you organise all of this?” Lexa asked Clarke, while pulling faces at the small girl, making her giggle.

“I had help.” The blonde replied, her heart melting at the sight of Lexa with Octavia and Lincoln’s baby.

“Let me guess, I was the last person to find out?” Lexa said.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Clarke said with a nod.

“Even I knew.” Tris said with a grin as she looked at Lexa.

“And you managed to keep it a secret?” Lexa asked, causing Tris to nod, “bet that was really hard.”

“It was,” Tris said with a dramatic sigh, “it really was.”

Lexa laughed at Tris’s actions before leaning down and kissing her softly on the head.

“Love you kid.” She said.

“Love you too.” Tris replied.

 

x-x-x-x

 

“Okay,” Clarke said, walking downstairs with another gift for Lexa, “this is the last one.”

Clarke sat down next to Lexa on the sofa in the living room, everyone else was sitting scattered around the room as Lexa had opened all the gifts for her birthday.

“Seriously?” Lexa said, looking at Clarke before looking back down at the gift in her hand, “another one?”

“Just open it.” Raven said.

Lexa started to unwrap the gift, her brow furrowing as she saw what it was. It was a baby onesie. The brunette held it up a little as she read what was written. It said ‘my mommies love me’ in rainbow letters.

Lexa looked between the onesie and Clarke.

“Really?” she asked, a smile on her lips.

“Really.” Clarke replied with a nod.

Lexa pulled Clarke closer and kissed her, before standing up from the sofa and dropping down in front of Clarke, her hands going to the blonde’s stomach.

“Hi…” she said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may write a few future one shots within this world if enough people want it.


End file.
